


It Happened In Tokyo

by BleedingInk



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe- No Supernatural, F/M, Fake Marriage, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Implied Sexual Content, Japanese Culture, Mutual Pining, Sharing a Bed, Workplace Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-13
Updated: 2017-10-13
Packaged: 2019-01-15 16:20:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 24,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12324555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BleedingInk/pseuds/BleedingInk
Summary: Castiel should have never agreed to go along with Meg’s charade to get moved to first class, but it’s too late to backtrack now. Forced to spend the weekend in Tokyo pretending they’re married in order to close a business deal, they might discover that there’s more to what their first impression of each other led them to believe.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written for my friend Abi's birthday! It... got a little longer than I was planning to, lol. Hope you enjoy it and happy birthday!

“Well, ain’t this all just peachy?” Meg scoffed under her breath when they announced on the speakers that their flight had been delayed for yet another hour.

Castiel opened his book and did his best to ignore her. The boarding area was busy with people that, just like them, had been left stranded due to the delay. Everyone seemed to be in the mood for complaining or huffing, but no one would protest more than Meg, for sure. So the best he could do was retreat to the fictional world he was currently living in.

Meg shifted in her seat so her shoulder was grazing Castiel’s. He could feel her eyes on his neck, but again, he kept concentrated on the page until she loudly cleared her throat.

“Do you need a mint?” Castiel asked, trying (and failing) to keep his voice as sarcasm-free as possible.

“No, I’m fine.”

“Good,” Castiel groaned.

“So tourist class sucks, huh?” Meg commented, after a few moments.

Castiel refused to acknowledge she was talking to him.

From the moment Meg Masters had walked into the office with her designer boots and her overconfident smirk and for almost a year now, Halos had known no peace. She was highly capacitated, ambitious and a great incorporation to the board as the new head of the Marketing department, nobody was questioning that; but she was also cutthroat, condescending and sometimes plain rude. Castiel had once found a poor intern reduced to tears in a bathroom stall because he hadn’t got Meg’s coffee exactly the way she’d demanded it.

Castiel did not approve of her methods and neither did many members of the board. However, cold, hard numbers weren’t really his thing and he knew they needed someone competent to handle that part of the business lest the publishing house his father had founded and left to his four children could go under. Meg was such person: in just a few short months, she had gotten several of their authors in different best sellers lists for the first time, she had managed to get their representatives invited to minor conventions so they could scout for new talent and she had presented several arguments that looked more like carefully drawn battle plans about the untapped readerships they could be selling their products to.

In fact, the deal they were about to close to translate and distribute Japanese manga for five important publishing companies had all been her doing, so that’s why she had been sent to oversee the details of the negotiation. Because of a cruel twist of fate, Castiel was the head of the Translation department, and therefore, the person who would be in charge of the final products should the deals be successful. He also happened to be fluid in Japanese and six other languages. So now there he was, forced to spend time with that cold-blooded she-devil for the next three days. He had always wanted to visit Japan, and he was not willing to let the fact Meg was there ruin that, so he had promised himself he was doing to do his best to ignore her.

Not that she made it any easier, given how she kept talking to him and interrupting his reading.

“I said…”

“Yes, I heard you the first time,” Castiel groaned. “But there’s nothing we can do about it. The company didn’t think it was convenient for us to travel in first class.”

He didn’t mention that his older brother Michael, the current CEO of Halos, had always been a little uptight about what he considered unnecessary expenditures.

“Not because I didn’t ask, trust me,” Meg said. “But not all is lost.”

Castiel was pretty sure he was going to regret it, but something in Meg’s tone made him raised his eyes at her. Meg smiled, and pulled a little box from her handbag.

“What is that?”

With a dramatic flicker of her wrist, she opened the box and showed its contents to Castiel. There were two simple, golden rings resting in the black, velvety bottom. Castiel looked at them, and then looked at Meg again, tilting his head in confusion.

“I don’t understand what you…”

“Did you know airlines are big into giving newlyweds complementary gifts?” she asked. “It’s a ploy to get them to recommend them to their friends, who are probably also getting married and going on honeymoon trips…”

“I don’t follow,” Castiel admitted.

Meg stared at him with a crooked eyebrow, like she thought he was playing dumb on purpose to annoy her. And granted, Castiel was perfectly capable of that, but he genuinely didn’t know where Meg was going with all of this.

“Newlyweds, Novak,” she repeated, as if it was evident what she meant. “We could pass for a fairly attractive couple of ones, don’t you think?”

Slowly, Castiel started to realize what she meant, and once again, he couldn’t help but to be equally surprised and disgusted at her moral ambiguity.

“No,” he said, simply and returned to his book.

“Oh, come on, it will take ten minutes,” she said. “You don’t even have to say anything. I’ll do all the talking. You just have to wear the thing and smile and go along, like a good husband would.”

“That would still make me complicit,” Castiel protested. “And we could be taking away from an actual couple of newlyweds.”

“Please.” Meg snickered. “How many people honeymoon in Japan?”

“You should take that into consideration. The airline stewardess could see through your ruse.”

“Nobody ever sees through my ruses,” she declared, proudly. “I am far too smart.”

Castiel added conceited to the list of defects he disliked about Meg.

“I’m not wearing the ring.”

“Okay, then.” Meg shrugged. “You wanna spend fifteen hours in a tightly confined space sharing a single armrest, that’s your choice. Honestly, I’m kinda flattered you wanna be so close to me. I gotta warn you, though: I’m gonna take a pill to knock myself out the minute we’re on the air, and I drool when I sleep.”

Reluctantly, Castiel raised his eyes from the book again. Meg was showing him a shit-eating grin, like she already knew she had won with that simple argument. But he didn’t want to give her the satisfaction. Not just yet, at the very least. Just a few seconds more…

“Alright, fine,” he groaned. “Give me the stupid thing.”

Meg dropped it directly in his open palm. The satisfaction in her face made Castiel nauseous. He didn’t have time to regret it, though: five minutes later, their flight was finally announced.

“Put your arm around me,” she instructed as they were walking down the jetway.

“Why?” Castiel groaned.

“Oh, just do it,” Meg said, and she practically lunged herself at him, so he had no choice but to obey lest she tackled him down and they ended up rolling towards the plane’s door.

“You know, this could warrant you a sexual harassment lawsuit,” Castiel warned her, still not amused by the whole ordeal and the fact that now Meg’s arm was around his waist.

“Don’t worry, I won’t go anywhere near your ass,” she said. “Now, smile.”

Castiel wasn’t so good at that, but he still tried: he stretched his lips to show his teeth, in what was without a doubt the fakest smile ever mustered in the history of humankind.

“No, that’s terrible, don’t do that.” Meg shook her head. “Ugh, never mind. Here we go.”

They crossed the plane’s door to be greeted by a blonde stewardess, whose name plaque indicated her name was “Harvelle, J.”

“Welcome to Oceanic Airways,” she said, showing them a big smile. “We’re sorry for the delay, we hope you have a pleasant fly!”

“Thank you!” Meg said, in an enthusiastic tone of voice Castiel found incredibly genuine. “We’re so excited, I can’t even tell you!”

She made sure to wave her hand right in front the stewardess, so the golden ring glimmered right before her eyes.

“Oh, you’re newlyweds!” the stewardess exclaimed, her eyes opening wide with excitement.

“Yes,” Meg replied, smiling so wide Castiel hope it wouldn’t hurt her face. “We got married just last week, it was fantastic. And now we’re going to Japan! Cas has always wanted to visit Japan…”

“Honey, I don’t think the nice lady wants to hear about it,” Castiel interrupted her, because there was a mean-looking lady standing right behind him and tapping her foot against the floor. “We’re holding the line; we should be heading for our seats.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, sweetie.” Meg giggled. “I just, oh… this is so exciting!”

“Yay!” said the stewardess.

Meg pulled Castiel towards tourist class, without letting go of her smile.

“Well, that didn’t work,” Castiel sighed, as he watched the really tiny seats they would have to crouch over during the flight.

“You’re a man of little faith, Novak,” Meg replied, and sat down with the same smirk and the same confidence that Castiel had sure had got her everything she had.

However, this time Castiel didn’t think it would be so easy, so he stood on the tip of his toes to put away his handbag when the blonde stewardess came down the hallway.

“Hey, guys, so I spoke with the captain,” she told them. “And we happen to have two free seats in first class. We can move you there, if you want.”

“Really?” Meg said, throwing Castiel a ‘What did I tell you?’ look before adopting her excited bride persona again. “Oh, my God, thank you so much! We couldn’t possibly…”

“Please, I insist,” said the stewardess. “I love seeing newlywed couples!”

That made Castiel feel like shit for lying to her. Though, granted, the first class seats were pretty comfortable. The complimentary champagne wasn’t bad either. Still, he was morally obligated to protest:

“You’re a horrible person, Meg Masters.”

“Yes, I am,” Meg admitted, taking a sip from her glass. “But if your conscience bothers you so much, you can always go back to tourist class.”

Castiel shut up and drank his champagne.

“Oh, don’t make that face, Novak,” Meg laughed at him. “Just think thirty-six hours from now, we’ll be drinking sake and deciding what we’re going to spend our big, fat check on.”

That was true, Castiel reasoned. He only had to stand Meg for the flight, the time they’d spend there, and the flight home. Then he could go back to pretend she didn’t exist around the offices.

Meg looked outside the window as the plane began moving.

“You know,” she commented. “I always did want to visit Japan.”

 

* * *

 

The flight was pretty calm, all things considered. As promised, Meg took a pill (Castiel gave her a sideways glance, but said nothing of the fact she was mixing it with alcohol. All the better for him, really) and slept through most of it. There were no turbulences to disturb her, so she didn’t have to think about the fact that one distracted bird flying into the engine could plunge them into a thousands of feet drop with nothing but the cold, uncaring waters of the Pacific to catch them when they landed. It wasn’t that she was scared of heights or anything like that. She just wasn’t convinced humans were meant to be that high in the air at all.

When she woke up, the stewardess kindly informed her that there were still a couple of hours away from landing and offered to bring her something to eat. Meg’s stomach was a little upset over the champagne, so she decided against it and instead try to find a mildly decent movie to pass the time. By her side, Castiel slept with a book open over his chest and his glasses lopsided. The lucky bastard. Meg watched him in silence for a few minutes.

Of all the Novak siblings, Castiel was most difficult to read. Michael, the oldest one and technically her immediate boss, was ambitious, cold and calculating. He kept Halos running like a well-oiled machine and he prided himself in his business prowess. Then there was Anna, who actually called the shots about which book went into printing and thought there was more to the publishing business than best sellers lists and market studies. They usually clashed because Michael wanted to go for more known writers while Anna wanted to finance some poor, dark poet that, according to her, could become the voice of a generation or something. Meg was pretty sure Michael had hired her specifically because he needed someone to break the frequent impasses between him and his sister, knowing that Meg would always go for the financially safe option.

Why didn’t he trust his other two brothers to make the calls, well, Meg had a pretty approximate idea. She had met Gabriel only a handful of times and the impression that she got of him was that he was doing his own thing. Officially, he handled Halo’s PR and various social media accounts. Unofficially, all he seemed to do was get drunk with the writers he liked and party a lot. And Castiel was… he was something else.

Meg stared at his face, the stubble growing on his cheeks, his squared jaw, the frown between his eyebrows that didn’t smooth out even when he was sleeping. He was good looking – all the Novak siblings were, bless their genes. Not that she should care about that, but if she had to choose, of course she would prefer to work with people who were easy on the eyes. But Castiel’s appeal, if she was being honest, started and ended there. He was stuck up and for someone who supposedly speak several different languages, unnervingly quiet. He also, apparently, lack a sense of humor. In the months she had been working for Halos, she didn’t think she ever saw him crack a smile. She was surprised he had agreed to go along with the newlyweds charade, but she suspected it was because he was decided to put as much space between the two as it was humanly possible in a plane.

She was more than fine with that. The only person who had to like her was Michael, since he paid her. The rest of them, she really didn’t care for.

“Attention, passengers,” the stewardess said over the speakers. Castiel woke up with a jolt and almost drops his book. “We’re flying over the city of Tokyo and we’ll be landing shortly. Please, make sure your electronic devices are off and your seats are on the upright position…”

“Finally,” Meg sighed as she adjusted her seatbelt.

Castiel leaned over to put away his book and started doing the same thing. Out of the corner of her eye, Meg caught the blonde stewardess coming at them and quickly stretched her hand to squeeze Castiel’s. His confusion was almost comical, as if he had completely forgotten how it was that they ended in the first class.

“Everything okay?” the stewardess asked.

“Yes, thank you,” Meg replied with her biggest smile.

“You’ve been very kind,” Castiel added. “We appreciate it.”

“Thanks to you for flying with us,” the girl reply. “I hope you have a fun honeymoon!”

“Oh, with this start?” I know it will be perfect,” Meg assured her, throwing a glance and a smirk at Castiel. The stewardess finally moved on and Meg let go of his hand. “Nice touch.”

“What?”

“The whole, ‘oh, you’ve been so kind’,” she clarified, with a chuckle. “Nothing like sucking up to them a little bit.”

Castiel squinted his eyes at her and Mg had to wonder if he really didn’t need to wear his glasses all the time and he was just too proud to do it.

“I do think they were very kind,” he clarified. “And we took advantage of that kindness…”

“Will you let it go already?” Meg huffed and rolled her eyes. “The moment to feel guilty about it was fifteen hours and ten thousand miles back.”

Castiel didn’t say anything. He just stared at her until Meg shifted awkwardly in her seat.

“What?”

“Nothing. I’m just wondering what your damage is.”

“It’s not my fault that you can’t appreciate…”

The plane lurched and Meg yelped, completely ruining her argument. That she had held on to Castiel’s arm in that moment of pure panic. Castiel looked down at her hand as if he saw it for the first time and cocked his head.

“Are you… afraid of planes?”

“It’s not fear; it’s common sense,” Meg groaned. “Anyone who isn’t just hasn’t stopped to think about it hard enough.”

She must have still been under the effects of the sleeping pill, because she thought she saw Castiel smile. That was impossible, since that would have jeopardized his prize as the least expressive dude on the world, but the real surprised was what he did next: he put his hand over hers and gave her a gentle squeeze.

“Don’t worry,” he told her. “We’ll be on the ground before you even realize.”

Meg opened her mouth and closed it again, not sure if she could come out of this with a sarcastic quip.

“Thanks,” she muttered in the end, turning her face to the window.

“And if we crush and burn, you’ll die with the satisfaction to know that you were right.”

Meg looked at him again, but his face was just as unreadable as always. However, she thought she saw his lips twitching ever so slightly. She was so stunned at the fact that Castiel Novak had just made a joke that she completely forgot about the possibility of a horrible death.

 

* * *

 

A girl with flaming red hair and a colorful vest was waiting for them at the gate. She had a sign that read “Halos” lifted above her head and when she spotted them coming at them, she showed them a wide smile and strode towards them.

“Hello! It’s so nice to meet you!” she said, offering her hand to shake. “My name is Charlie Bradbury and I work for Noriaki. I’m actually the only American working there, so they sent me to be your guide and interpreter.”

“Oh, they shouldn’t have bothered,” Castiel said, in the same polite tone he had used to talk to the stewardess and that was frankly started to get on Meg’s names. “I can speak Japanese.”

“That’s great,” Charlie replied, turning her attention to offer her hand to Meg. “But I can still… oh. Oh, shit. Sorry.”

“What?” Meg asked, confused as to why Charlie had stopped mid-shake.

Charlie lifted up her head, her eyes wide open in shock.

“I didn’t know you were married!” she explained, speaking so fast Meg had barely time to register what she was saying. “I booked two separate rooms for you in the onsen and the hotel… I’m so sorry, I will fix this right away!”

She walked away from them, taking her cellphone out of her pocket and started talking rapidly in Japanese. Meg blinked, looked down at her hand and grimaced. They had forgotten to take off the wedding rings. Her mind started racing immediately.

“Oh, no,” Castiel muttered, as he paled a little bit. He started walking towards Charlie and Meg just knew what he was going to say before he even opened his mouth. She grabbed him by the hand and pulled so hard from him towards her that he almost stumbled.

“Stop. We can’t tell her,” she muttered under her breath.

“What are you talking about? We have to tell her!”

“Oh, yeah, how are you going to do that? _‘We totally faked being married for a better seat and free champagne’_. Sounds a little bad, doesn’t it?” Meg arched an eyebrow to emphasize her point. “It’s gonna make us look like dishonest bastards in front of the people who we’re trying to convince to sign a business deal with us.”

Castiel stared at her with his mouth slightly open, as if he was perplexed Meg was even bringing up this point at all.

“This is your fault. If anyone is going to seem dishonest, that will be you.”

“Do I have to remind you, again, that you were the one who agreed to go with it?” She crossed her arms over her chest. “And it’s your family who is in charge of the company.”

“So?”

“So if they know you approved of this plan, you’re the one who is going to look worse,” Meg explained. She fixed her gaze on Castiel’s unnervingly blue eyes and tried to sound as reasonable as she could: “And if we go back home with our hands empty, who do you think your brother is going to blame?”

She was playing with fire, she was aware. She had the impression Castiel and Michael didn’t have a particularly close relationship, but she could be wrong. Castiel could very well tell her that of course Michael was going to be on his side, that it was her antics that would end up costing them the deal and that she could very well kiss her job goodbye as soon as they set a foot back on American soil. But Charlie was hanging up the phone now and walking back towards them, so Meg didn’t really have to come up with a better plan.

And apparently, neither did Castiel, because he let out a deep sigh.

“The champagne wasn’t worth this.”

“Everything is settled!” Charlie announced chirpily. “I’m really sorry again.”

“Oh, you shouldn’t have bothered,” Meg said, trying to maintain her polite and kind attitude.

To Meg’s surprise, Castiel stretched his hand as he turned away and he grabbed Meg’s hand.

“Thank you for your consideration,” he said, smiling wide.

“Oh, not at all. Please.” She beckoned for them to start walking towards the door and continued talking. “How long have you been married?”

Meg watched Castiel closely, entirely certain this would be the moment he broke and confessed everything. She was bracing herself for it when Castiel once more managed to take her by surprise:

“A very short time, actually. In fact, it feels like it was only yesterday.”


	2. Chapter 2

Noriaki Ltd. was one of the publishing houses they were hoping to make the deal with and for now, the one who seemed more interested in it. They not only had handled their hotel registration and sent Charlie to pick them up, they had also provided them with a car complete with a chauffeur who bowed at them briefly before opening the door for them.

It was kind of surreal.

The sun sank behind the buildings and the thousands of windows in the sides started lightning up with golden, faraway lights, but Meg felt wide awake. She didn’t know if it was because she had just come out of a drug-induced long sleep or because her mind was very sure that it was early in the morning, time to wake up and do her morning routine exercise.

Charlie kept talking, giving them a detailed account of the next two days schedule.

“The meeting with all the representative from the publishing houses will be tomorrow morning, so you have time to rest tonight. In the afternoon, I have organized a tour around the city and a visit to a very well-known onsen, all courtesy of Noriaki-sama… I mean, Mr. Noriaki…”

Meg forced herself to stop looking at the impressive skyscrapers.

“So we will have one meeting with all of them at the same time?” she said, frowning. She was certain they were going to have to visit one after the other to try to make individual deals with each one of them. Ideally, their goal was to convince all five of them, but Meg had counted that they would at least get two or three to agree even if the others weren’t on board with it.

This… would complicate things. She glanced at Castiel, but he didn’t seem to have noticed just how strange this decision on part of the companies was.

“Well, the presidents will all be joining us later in the day in the onsen. Some of them will even bring their families,” Charlie said, although she did seem a little uncomfortable that Meg had noted this. “So if you have any further issues to discuss with them that would be the ideal place to do so. It will be a lot more relaxed and informal.”

That wasn’t exactly what Meg wanted to hear. There was something fishy about this, but she let Castiel change the topic.

“So, how long have you been living in Japan?”

“A couple of years,” Charlie explained. “It might have been a bit of an impulse, you know? I have just broken up with my girlfriend, I was looking for a change of scenery… I’m sorry, I’m sure you don’t care about any of this.”

“No, please,” Castiel insisted. “We would like to hear it.”

Charlie smiled wide and started telling them her life story: she was a graphic designer that had been climbing the ranks in Noriaki for the last couple of years. She worked underneath the supervision of a man who was a couple of years away from retirement. She didn’t say it, but Meg had the impression she was hoping to replace him when the time came and have probably accepted the babysit them in order to impress the higher ups and show that she could be trusted with more responsibilities.

Meg took note of this. Maybe she would help them keep the charade should she find out, but it was an unnecessary risk she wasn’t willing to take.

They arrived to the hotel after the nigh had already fallen. The chauffeur helped them with their bags and the receptionist smiled warmly at them and told them in a English with barely any accent that the restaurant had already closed, but that they could order room service if they were feeling hungry.

“We hope you will enjoy your stay,” she said as she handed them the magnetic cards.

Charlie said goodbye to them in the lobby and promised to pick them up in the morning for the meeting with the five presidents. Meg and Castiel were escorted to their room by a bellboy who seemed very confused about why she was extending him a bill until Castiel explained it was a tip. He then refused to accept it and Meg wasn’t sure if it was polite to insist.

In any case, once they were in their room and alone, Meg very pointedly avoided looking at the double bed and instead open her bag to take her computer out, a notepad and a pen to take notes. Castiel disappeared inside the bathroom, which left her plenty of time to look around the Internet for the answer she needed. Half an hour later, when the water in the bathroom stopped running, Meg had found absolutely nothing. She leaned back on the chair and pinched her nose in frustration.

Castiel opened the door and sauntered into the room, pinning a white towel around his waist.

“Are you gonna come in next?” he asked.

Meg turned to him to tell him something but her train of thought crashed and burned before she could get the words out.

So far, she had only seen Castiel in casual dress shirts or suits and in one occasion, in a comically oversized and ill-fitting trench coat. He always looked a little hunched, like he was constantly looking down, and maybe that was why she hadn’t realized just how broad his shoulders actually were. He actually had a very nice body in general, with noticeable biceps that weren’t too bulky and a plane and smooth stomach, the body of a man who excursive regularly, but not excessively. He still seemed able to pick a woman and throw her over his shoulder should he want to…

Meg snapped out of those thoughts by looking away as quickly as she could.

“Yeah. Give me a sec,” she muttered quickly.

Castiel, apparently unaware of the things his dripping wet body was doing to her mind, strode towards them and glanced at her notes over her shoulders.

“Why are you trying to find out who Noriaki’s partners are?”

“Art of War. You always should try to get to know your opponent before you go into the battlefield,” she replied with a shrug.

Castiel wasn’t impressed by her assessment.

“It’s a business deal, not a fight.”

“Same difference,” Meg replied. She stood up and stretched her hands over her head, exposing a few inches of her belly as she did. She didn’t know why she was doing that. She definitely didn’t care if Castiel watched her closely why she did this or not. “Be a good friend and order us some room service, will you?”

She turned around and stalked towards the bathroom. She found out there were robes in there and wondered why the hell Castiel hadn’t used those instead of parading into the room half naked, but she wasn’t about to complain. The water pressure was perfect, so she stayed under the hot stream for a long time, letting it wash away the stiffness from her neck and back muscles.

When she came, a lot more relaxed and feeling extremely content wrapped in the spongy robe, she found Castiel sitting in front of her computer, taking notes. He had changed into a pair of pajama pants and a shirt grey that still outlined the muscles of his back and his bare feet rolled tapped on the carpet, signaling his concentration.

“Food arrived five minutes ago,” he told her, nodding his head in the carts direction. “I ordered something cold so you could take your time.”

“Ah, wonderful,” Meg muttered as she went straight towards it. Castiel had ordered sushi, which she could have eaten without having to travel to the other side of the world, but she was starving. Airplane food was terrible and they hadn’t had time to pick up anything in the airport. She popped a roll in her mouth and dragged the cart and a chair to sit next to the desk where Castiel was taking notes. “Anything interesting?”

“I think you might have been right,” Castiel said, showing her the page he was reading. It was in Japanese, so Meg patiently waited for him to explain exactly what she was supposed to be seeing there. “Noriaki has been in talks to acquire and merge with Rumiko and Kaida & Co. They are…”

“Two of the other publishing houses we’re meeting tomorrow, yes,” Meg interrupted him. “I did my homework. I can’t pronounced half the names, but I know who you’re talking about. So, what’s Noriaki’s endgame here?”

Castiel stared at her blankly, clearly expecting her to provide the answer for that question. Meg popped another roll of sushi into her mouth and chewed it very slowly.

“Well, clearly, the five way reunion was their idea,” she deduced. “They’re obviously interested in the deal, since they paid for this hotel and sent us the manic pixie redhead to serve as guide. Now, if we translate their comics…”

“Manga.”

“Yeah, that. If we translate it, it opens a whole new market for them, but it also opens it for their competition. So it’s convenient for them that we’re the only publishing house that has shown interest in printing their material internationally.” Meg submerged the next roll in the soy sauce and held it in the air. Castiel was visibly cringing at her. “What?”

“You’re not really supposed to imbibe the roll in the sauce,” he explained. “You’re supposed to just dip it in a little bit, not so much that it drowns out the taste of the fish…”

“Oh, so you’re a sushi expert now, too?” Meg asked, rolling her eyes and eating the roll dripping with sauce as she liked it. Castiel opened his mouth probably to give her a smartass answer, but Meg swallowed and raised a finger. “Quiet, Novak. I’m inspired. So as I was saying, it serves Noriaki that we seal the deal, because that might open up a negotiation opportunity.”

“I… don’t see how.” Castiel frowned and tilted his head, a gesture Meg was beginning to understand meant confusion in him.

“It’s simple. If Noriaki can show the others their prowess, they can show that making business with them it’s convenient. _‘Hey, didn’t we do a great work with the Americans? How about we become partners and merge?’_ Basically, we’re Noriaki’s wingman while they try to convince a girl to go to prom with them.”

She punctuated that statement but devouring another sauce drenched roll into her mouth. Castiel was still staring at her, almost as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“What?” she asked again.

“That was… insightful,” he replied. “I would’ve not thought of that.”

“Yeah, well. Maybe that’s why Michael had me chaperoning you,” she replied. “Aren’t you going to eat?”

Castiel stood up to pick up a small platter. He was about to pick up a roll when he stopped with his sticks midair and frowned at Meg.

“You’re not the one chaperoning me,” he protested. “If anything, I am the one chaperoning you, since I have to be your interpreter.”

“Well, as you can see, even if you hadn’t come, I still would’ve got an interpreter.” She shrugged. “And even then, cold, hard math has no language barriers. So, yeah, Michael maybe sent you to represent the company since you’re his brother and all, but I’m the one who’s going to be doing all the negotiating.”

“He sent me with you because you might be very smart and talented with numbers and figures,” Castiel argued. “But your social skills are sorely lacking.”

Meg scoffed. She couldn’t believe that Castiel Novak, of all people, was the one who had just called her out on that. Did he really have such little self-awareness?

“I mean that,” Castiel said, apparently very annoyed Meg wasn’t taking him seriously. “Don’t think I don’t know about you terrorizing the interns…”

“They need to be terrorized,” Meg argued. “How else are they going to learn to do their job right? Hell, I worked for this bitch we called Abaddon the Destroyer behind her back and I came out the other side better for it.”

“You came out callous and cruel, from where I’m standing.”

“And you came out from your Ivy League college like a pampered rich boy that was just handed his position in the family business without having to put a day of work into it,” Meg shot back.

“Have you met my brother?” Castiel retorted. “Michael gives nothing for free. If I hadn’t proven myself to be the best person for the position, he wouldn’t have even considered me.”

“How do you explain Gabriel then?”

Castiel opened his mouth and closed it again. He averted Meg’s eyes as if to gain some time to come up with an answer for that. He shifted awkwardly in his position and chewed his bottom lip. Meg continued staring at him with a raised eyebrow, patiently waiting for him to admit she had won this argument.

“He… well, there’s…” Castiel stuttered and started again, in a voice so quiet Meg almost didn’t catch what he said. “Father likely left a clause regarding him in his will.”

Meg tried not to laugh. She really tried, but, ultimately, she couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped her lips. And Castiel’s annoyance only made everything all the more hilarious. She realized, with a little surprise, that she had actually enjoyed their banter.

“Well, all the better for us, huh? He’s the life of the party.”

“You wouldn’t think so highly of him if you have grown up tormented by his pranks,” he replied, in the same bitter tone he used for everything. Meg thought she saw his lips twitching, though. Like he was trying with all his might not to laugh.

She ignored the way her heart started going faster as she emptied her plate of the last couple of rolls and left it back on the cart.

“I’m jet-lagged as fuck, so I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep,” she commented. “But we should try it anyway.”

“Right.” Castiel glanced at the double bed and he swallowed, apprehensive. “I can… call and request extra pillows. I don’t mind sleeping on the floor…”

“Don’t be silly,” Meg interrupted his rambling. “We can share the bed.”

Castiel stared at her with eyes wide-open, almost like a deer trapped in the headlights. Meg had never been self-conscious, but suddenly, she felt the robe she was wearing was much too flimsy. She crossed her arms over her chest, but refused to let the uneasiness she felt reflect in her voice:

“If you’re exhausted tomorrow from having slept on the floor, you’re no use to me.”

“Didn’t you say it didn’t matter who was your interpreter?”

“I don’t trust Manic Pixie Redhead. She works for Noriaki, after all. Her boss could be insulting me to her face and I’d be none the wiser. So…”

She jerked her head towards the bed. The gesture probably came out a little more inviting or flirtier than she intended it, because Castiel pulled from the helm of his shirt.

“I don’t… I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“I trust you will be a gentleman,” she said. She picked her nightgown and her travel kit from her open suitcase and headed for the bathroom.

She took her time brushing her teeth and drying her hair. She wasn’t expecting it to be this awkward. She had shared a bed with plenty of male friends back in college, some of which she had never even had sex with. But that was the key difference, she pondered as she looked at herself in the mirror. Castiel wasn’t a friend. He was a coworker she’d only known for a few months. The conversation they’d just had was their longest ever, and that was… odd, for reasons she wasn’t sure how to describe.

Everything about that trip was turning out to be a lot stranger than she was expecting.

Also, she was regretting bringing her white silk nightgown that displayed her legs and a generous part of her cleavage. She could have just as easily brought an old shirt and the baggy, shapeless pajama pants she used when she was on her period, but no, she had to do everything stylishly. Even coming up with a ploy to travel in first class. She really had no to blame but herself for all of this.

She was just prolonging the inevitable. She straightened her shoulders, took a deep breath and stepped out of the bathroom.

Castiel was talking to someone in Japanese by the door. The cart with the remaining food was gone and when he closed the door and stalked back inside, he was carrying too extra pillows. If he thought anything about Meg’s nightgown, his face didn’t show it, but she definitely thought something about the pillows.

“Really? I just told you there’s no need…”

“They’re not for that,” he clarified. He placed them on the bed, moved them to approximately the middle of it and raised them, making a fort to separate the two halves. When he looked up at Meg, he seemed very pleased with himself about his solution. “That way we won’t disturb each other’s rest.”

“Do you have a sword to throw in there as well?” she asked.

He tilted his head, obviously not getting what she meant and Meg made absolutely no attempt at clarifying what she meant. She walked around the bed and slid underneath the sheets without waiting for Castiel to pick a side for her. He let out a deep sigh, as if he was disappointed that she wouldn’t praise him for his fantastic idea and disappeared inside the bathroom. Meg tried to force herself to fall asleep in the time it took him to come out, but she had no luck.

Although she could have kept her eyes shut while he removed his shirt. She definitely had no reason to be spying on him and the way his back muscles flexed as he turned over to hit the lights off. She really should stop, she thought as she quickly sank her head back in the pillow so he wouldn’t notice what she was doing. At least in the dark, he couldn’t see her blushing. The mattress sank with his weight and all of the sudden Meg felt the pillow wall wasn’t thick enough.

She started talking to mask her nervousness.

“Do you think Manic Pixie…?”

“Wouldn’t it be easier for you if you just called her by her name?” he cut her off.

“Why would I do that?”

“It just seems to me that you spend an awful lot of time coming up with mean nicknames for people when it’s much easier just to use their names. I’m just saying, you could put your energy to better uses.”

Goddammit, how did he always manage to sound so insufferably pompous? She was tempted to not use her name just to piss her off, but she figured it would be easier to keep this conversation shorter.

“Fine. Do you think Charlie let it slip that we are ‘married’?” she said, drawing air quotes with her fingers.

Castiel groaned, as if he was hoping to forget about that, as if it wasn’t the very reason they were sleeping in the same bed right then.

“I see no reason why she would keep quiet about it. After all, Halos prides itself on being a family business. Technically you’re the only one who isn’t related to us in the board, but if you were married with me, that would make more sense.”

Meg had nothing to say about that. She shifted on the mattress, trying to find a more comfortable position, and ended up lying on her back. At least it was better than staring at the wall of pillows and trying to figure out Castiel’s mood from it.

“So what you’re saying is, we’re gonna have to act like husband and wife,” she groaned. “Wonderful.”

“Need I remind you whose fault is that?”

“Yeah, yeah. My point being, we should agree on some things.”

“Such as?”

Meg sighed and rubbed her temples. He really wasn’t making this any easier.

“How long have we been married?”

Castiel stayed quiet for so long that Meg was sure he wasn’t going to play along, but then he said:

“Long enough that we don’t feel the need to go overboard with the public displays of affection. Two years?”

“Make it three,” Meg said. “Speaking of PDA, I think we should hold hands. Like, when we ride on elevators or stuff like that.”

“Fair enough. I should hold the door and move chair for you to sit.”

“Why the hell would you do that?” Meg asked, cringing.

“I always do that for my girlfriends. I would imagine I would do so for my wife as well.”

“Holy shit, what century are you from?”

“Clearly not the same as yours, since you’re such a modern woman you didn’t change your last name when you married me.”

“Oh, so you’re saying I would have to renounce it if I married you?” Meg asked, raising her head just enough to glare at him over the pillows. “If you get to keep your last name, then so do I.”

“Fair enough,” he accepted.

Meg threw him one last look of discontent and settled back down, turning her back to him. It didn’t matter that she would miss the sight of him shirtless in the morning. She was mad at him and would claim a headache if he tried to get her to perform her wifely duties.

Which he wouldn’t. Because they weren’t really married, she reminded herself.

Silence fell for a long time between the two of them. Meg had just begun drifting off to sleep when he spoke again:

“Why don’t we have children?”

“You want to complicate the story even more with our nonexistent offspring?”

“No, I’m just asking what our excuse is if anybody asks.”

Meg sighed deeply.

“I don’t want any.”

“Why not?”

“Anybody who asks that is going way over the line of politeness and you’re allowed to tell them to shut up,” she pointed out. “Go the fuck to sleep, Castiel.”

“Very well,” he said. And then, almost like an afterthought: “Goodnight.”

Meg looked over her shoulder one last time just to realize that he had also turned his back on her.


	3. Chapter 3

Castiel woke up to the grating sound of a phone ringing. He’d only just fallen asleep what felt like minutes before, uncomfortable enough that he wanted to toss and turn in the bed, but forcing himself to stay very still because he didn’t want to disturb Meg’s sleep. He was hyperaware of her deep breathing, of just how close she was and the pillow wall between the two did very little to help that fact.

He was still reeling from a half-forgotten dream when he stretched his hand and blindly felt up the table besides him until he found the tube and clumsily placed it against his ear.

“Hello?” he murmured.

“Good… morning, mister Novak,” the voice on the other said end. They spoke English very slowly, as if they were articulating words they weren’t entirely familiar with, and pronounced his name strangely: _Novak-u_. “This is your wake up call.”

Castiel’s brain finally caught up with the situation. He remembered where he was and where and what he was supposed to be doing that morning. He thanked the receptionist in Japanese and hanged up before looking at the other side of the bed. His brief conversation with the receptionist hadn’t woken Meg up at all. She was laying immobile almost on the other edge of the bed, as if she’d tried to put as much distance between them as possible.

She was a messy sleeper. At some point during the night, she had kicked the sheets down and tangled her legs around them. Her nightgown had lifted up revealing a generous portion of her back and her round ass, barely covered by her white panties. Castiel looked away immediately, his face burning up in embarrassment as his boxers became uncomfortably tight. Had he woken up with that boner? It hardly mattered now. He stretched his hand and put his hand on what he hoped was her shoulder, because he didn’t dare to look again to make sure.

“Meg,” he called her softly. “Meg, wake up.”

Meg stirred and groaned by his side, so he took that to mean she was awake. He immediately moved his hand away, as if her touch burned him.

“We have to go down for breakfast. Charlie will pick us up in an hour for the meeting.”

He got up of the bed and walked towards the bathroom as fast as his situation allowed him to. He alleviated himself and rubbed some toothpaste on gums and teeth because he had forgotten his brush in the other room and he didn’t dare return for it. This was extremely inconvenient. He would have preferred to take part on his morning routine without all of this… agitation. They had a meeting right after breakfast and he couldn’t even remember how his presentation was supposed to go. Instead, his mind kept flashing back to Meg’s exposed body, the curves insinuated right underneath the flimsy fabric, the ink of her lower back tattoo staining her back…

He must have been crazy to be thinking those things. He had to remind himself he couldn’t stand the woman.

And she hadn’t even moved by the time he came out of the bathroom. She was sitting on the bed, rubbing her eyes and yawning wide.

“Okay,” she mumbled, looking at him with tired eyes. “What was that about breakfast?”

She looked almost like and entirely different person. Castiel wasn’t one to notice when women wore makeup and Meg must have been an expert in applying it, because seeing her day to day, it had never occurred to him that her lips weren’t that red and voluptuous and her eyes weren’t really that big. That wasn’t even considering her hair, that usually cascaded down her shoulders in long, messy waves and that morning looked like a bird had nested in it. She also wasn’t smirking sarcastically or making harsh comments about other people. It was odd. It was almost like seeing her without her shield, without the armor she wore every day to confront the world.

Meg seemed to realize this, because the next thing she did was run her fingers through her hair with one hand to try to accommodate it before she snapped them to get his attention.

“Hey, Earth to Novak. How long do we have?”

Castiel shook his head to rein in his thoughts.

“She said she’d be picking us up at ten.”

Meg grabbed her phone from her nightstand and squinted her eyes at the screen.

“Okay.”

She finally kicked the sheets aside and stood up with her back to him. She stretched her hands above her head, with her nightgown rising again. Castiel quickly started going through his bag, looking for his clothes as if he hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary.

“I’ll be ready in twenty minutes,” Meg said, moving her head to the sides. Her neck cracked and she sighed with satisfaction. “Why don’t you go and get us a table, hubby?”

She walked passed him way too close, as if she had intentions of bumping into him, but Castiel stepped aside as quickly as he could and watched close the bathroom door behind her. What the hell was that? What was she playing at?

He shook his head and focused on getting his suit on. He buttoned up his shirt in front of the mirror and adjusted his blue tie. Anna had chosen it for him, because according to her, it brought up his eyes. He was glad to have someone who could pay attention to that sort of stuff, because if it was up to him, he would put on a suit and call it a day. Like now, for example. He should have gone to get his hair cut before the trip, but he had completely forgotten and as a consequence, now his hair was longer than usual and sticking up in every imaginable direction. He tried squashing it against his skull, but it was no use, so he left it for impossible and left for the buffet. He trusted Meg could find her way there without help.

The buffet was pretty full of people, most of them with Asian features, but he spotted an elderly couple that was talking very loudly in Italian. Apparently, the husband didn’t want to climb all the stairs needed to visit a Shinto temple. Castiel smiled to himself as he picked up a mug to fill it with black coffee and proceeded to fill his plate with toasts and croissants. There were other options available, like miso soup and bowls of white rice, but he was a dumb American and he didn’t want to risk it. He would have to time to enjoy the local cuisine later that day, after the meeting.

He had just found a table to settle down in when he spotted Meg coming out of the elevator, her dark hair tied up in a loose bun. She was sporting a white blouse and black slacks, and she looked just as professional and serious as she always was when he saw her in the offices. When she finished charging her platter and turned her face to look for him, he noticed she had done her makeup again.

Not that he cared. Of course he didn’t. Meg had the right to do whatever she pleased with her face.

She still didn’t look entirely awake. She picked up her mug of coffee and drank it all up in one long gulp, without adding any sugar or milk to it as far as Castiel could tell. She put it down, shaking her head like a dog coming out of the water and started peeling her banana.

“Alright. So we should discuss the details of the presentation… you’re not really going like that, are you?” she asked. It was the first time she set her eyes on him in all morning and he suddenly felt very self-conscious about the state of his hair.

“I tried to fix it.”

“You obviously didn’t try hard enough,” Meg groaned. “Doesn’t matter. We’ll deal with that in the car.” She opened her bag and slid some cards towards Castiel. “These are some of the main points we should address.”

Castiel gave them a quick read, nodding to himself as he absorbed the main points Meg thought were important. They actually aligned with his pretty neatly: about how Halos was a prestigious publishing house, how they would be respectful of their material and how they hoped they could become partners in this new endeavor. She had even pointed in the script where he should shut his mouth and let her break out the statistics and numbers she had prepared.

“This is very thorough,” he admitted, impressed.

“Of course. I’m great at what I do.”

There was no vanity in her words, just a simple statement about what she was capable of. Castiel watched her eat her fruit in silence, finally understanding what Michael had seen on her that had lead him to hire her. Meg was efficient, no-nonsense and ruthless. It was obvious his brother would like her.

Castiel couldn’t help but to wonder if Michael had also happened to notice that she was an excessively beautiful woman.

“What?” she snapped at him. “Do I have something in my face?”

Castiel noticed he was staring at her and snapped out of it. He read the cards one more time, fixing Meg’s neat handwriting in his head as much as he could.

“You think you can manage?” Meg asked.

“Of course. I have eidetic memory,” he informed her, in the same matter-of-fact tone that she had used before.

“That’s not a thing,” she scoffed.

“Yes, it is.”

“No, I read about that. The professor who conducted the studies was really shady and he later married the student that he was supposedly studying.”

“Must have been a very in depth study, then.”

Meg moved back on the chair and Castiel realized of what exactly he had said.

“I’m… I’m sorry,” he stuttered. “That wasn’t appropriate at all, I apologize…”

Meg interrupted him with a loud laughter.

“Well, Novak. Turns out you’re a bit of a freak underneath that unassuming exterior. It’s always the quiet ones, huh?”

Castiel felt his cheeks burning, but luckily the ping of his phone saved him from having to come up with an answer.

“It’s Charlie,” he informed Meg. “She’s waiting for us in the lobby.”

Meg picked up her apple and slid it inside of her bag.

“For the way,” she explained to Castiel’s interrogative look.

 

* * *

 

How this man was the head of one of the departments in the publishing house, Meg couldn’t begin to understand it and she was sure that when the Japanese business people looked at him, they were going to notice too. The minute they planted their asses in the car’s backseat, Meg set out to try to fix his appearance a little bit. She straightened his tie and took out a comb from her purse.

“There’s really no need…”

“I’ll tell you what there’s a need for,” Meg replied, forcing him to lean down so she could properly move it through his hair. “Seriously, you can’t go to a meeting like this…”

It didn’t do much, but at least he didn’t look like he’d just got out of bed and straight into the meeting. She sighed and put a hand on his cheek. Castiel startled at the touch, but a second later, he realized why she was doing it.

“Bad day to forget to shave, Castiel,” she groaned at him.

Castiel passed a hand through the stubble growing in his cheeks and at least had the decency to look embarrassed.

“I’m sorry, I… I had my mind elsewhere.”

“I know. Which is what I have to do everything around here. Now, sit quietly and look pretty. You think you can manage that?”

Her irritation at the fact she had to walk into a conference room with a man that looked a little bit like a hobo she had found on the street and put a suit on.

Castiel glared at her, obviously as unhappy as she felt.

“Yes, _dear_ ,” he said. His voice dripped with sarcasm and Meg had to resist the impulse to start a screaming match with him right there.

The only think that stopped her from doing it was Charlie quietly laughing in the seat next to her.

“What?” Meg asked.

“Nothing, it’s just… you guys are so cute,” she said, beaming at them. “How long have you been married again?”

“Three years,” Meg said, and the same time Castiel said:

“Two…”

Meg shot a look of alarm at him. Goddammit, they had spent some very awkward minutes the night before trying to get their story straight, and now he was ruining it?

Castiel awkwardly clear his throat before attempting to fix his mistake:

“I mean, officially, two,” he added. “But we lived together for a year before we decided to get married.”

Charlie practically cooed at them. Meg couldn’t believe she was so invested into what for all intends and purposes was a strangers’ relationship.

“How did he propose?”

Meg turned to look at Castiel and he just blinked at her with a completely blank expression.

“Oh, you tell it,” he said, and grinned. “You always tell it better anyway.”

Meg certainly didn’t enjoy his new found proclivity for teasing her.

“Well… it was our anniversary,” Meg started, because Castiel came off as the kind of sap who would pay attention to details like that. “So we went out on a date to our favorite restaurant…”

“Italian,” Castiel clarified. “Meg does enjoy her international cuisine.”

“Right,” she agreed, forcing a smile as big as she could. “So… after dessert, we went walking on Central Park, because it was summer and the night was very warm. And then, when we were crossing a bridge, right above the lake and we stopped to look at the ducks. And there was no one around, just us and the ducks. And he wanted me to see something in the other side of the lake. Of course, it was all an excuse so he could go down on one knee and pop the question.”

“That is so nice!” Charlie said, genuinely looking touched. “I love that, actually. Proposal in Central Park, so romantic!”

“Yep, that’s totally how it happened,” Meg said, with the distinctive feeling she was overselling it.

“And we’ve been together ever since,” Castiel added. To Meg’s surprise, he grabbed her hand and quickly took it to his lips to leave a kiss on her knuckles.

Meg froze a little but then turned to him with a beam. Charlie didn’t ask any more about their relationship, of course, but Meg and Castiel were forced to hold hands for the rest of the trip, because at that point, it would’ve been weird if they didn’t. Castiel’s hand was warm and felt strangely big over hers. There were some calluses in them and Meg remembered Michael saying sometimes he and his brothers went to play tennis together. That could also explain the well-defined muscles on his back.

And in the silence that followed, Meg caught herself wondering what those hands would feel like against other parts of her skin, against her body holding it tight…

Luckily, the trip to Noriaki’s offices ended before she could really ponder on what exactly was wrong with her. Charlie guided them through some well-lit corridors, with enormous glass windows and an elevator that shone steely silver. Charlie pressed the button that lead them directly to the last floor, all the while chatting amicably about Noriaki-sama, about what an agreeable man he was and how he was excited to meet them.

Noriaki himself wasn’t exactly what Meg was expecting. She had seen pictures of an older, serious man online, but the Noriaki standing in front of them couldn’t be older than thirty and he had a kind, open smile. He greeted them in both styles, by shaking their hands and by bowing to them. Castiel bowed as well, with graciousness, but Meg was sure her bow was clumsy and inelegant. Noriaki immediately turned around to ask something to Charlie.

“Noriaki-sama wants to know if you enjoyed your stay at the hotel,” Charlie translated.

Before Meg could formulate an answer, Castiel replied by letting out a torrent of words that first surprised and then pleased Noriaki. He congratulated Castiel (at least his tone sounded congratulatory) and then said something else to Charlie.

“Oh, okay,” Charlie said. She seemed a little taken aback.

“What?” Meg asked.

“Mr. Noariaki thinks that since I’m fluent in Japanese, Charlie’s work as an interpreter isn’t needed for the presentation,” Castiel explained.

“Will it be okay?” Meg asked, a little apprehensive. Could Castiel really keep up with all the technical terms that she was going to dish out when it was her turn?

“Yes, don’t worry. It will be just fine,” Castiel said and confidently walked towards the door, speaking rapidly in Japanese with Noriaki.

Meg took an apprehensive look at Charlie, but all she could offer her was a shrug.

“Good luck!”

Meg sighed deeply, but straightened her shoulders and followed them into the conference room. After all, she hadn’t gone where she was today by chickening out when things got just a little bit complicated.

Four pairs of severe eyes fell on her the moment she walked in, but Meg simply smiled at them as if she was charmed to be there. She noticed three of the men there were middle-aged, probably very conservative and the only other woman in the room look just as serious as them. Noriaki introduced them one by one as Meg started setting up her computer and the projector.

In the meantime, Castiel went around the table offering them the gift they had brought: fountain pens, and pretty ones at that. While preparing for this trip, they had learned it was considered good form to offer their potential business partners something small as a sign of friendship and good will. She didn’t know who had chosen the pens and what the presidents thought of them, since their expressions were hard to read, but Castiel was smiling as if he had accomplished something already when he came back to the head of the table.

He stood in front of the projector, took a deep breath and started talking. The torrent of words that came out of his mouth no longer was like an uncontrollable stream of sounds that she couldn’t understand. It sounded calmer, clearer, like he wanted everyone to take in the words he was saying. It was hard to reconcile the confidence in his voice with the man that was usually grumpy or quiet during the board meetings at home and Meg couldn’t help but to be a little impressed.

Soon enough, however, the tension in the room disappeared little by little. His audience leaned over to listen to him with attention, some of them nodding along. They all seemed very attentive to whatever it was he was saying. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Noriaki smirking. Castiel concluded his idea and turned towards Meg.

“We’re ready for you,” he told her.

“Very well.” Meg stood up and smiled, with the confidence that these people would understand everything she meant through Castiel. She opened the first slide and used her laser pointer to direct everyone’s attention to the numbers on the screen. “Halos has a powerful reach amongst the younger audiences that constitute manga readership in America. If we focus our marketing strategies…”

She made pauses every couple of phrases so Castiel could translate for them, but she didn’t care much for the room’s mood. She talked with clinical precision about deadlines and projected sales and promotions and conversion rates. All the PR stunts and projecting themselves like a trustworthy publishing company was very nice and whatever, but at the end of the day, a business was only worth the money it made back and that’s what she was there for. Math was easy, numbers never lied. She hoped they would know it as well as she did.

When she finished, she thank them for their attention and imitated Castiel when he bowed briefly in front of them.

The deafening silence that followed was disheartening, but it didn’t last very long. A slow, almost mocking clap started at the other end of the table. Noriaki stood up and offered them his hand to shake, presumably thanking them for the presentation. Castiel said something to him and then helped Meg disconnect her laptop and put it back in the briefcase.

“What do you think?” Meg asked after Noriaki escorted them to the door and very ceremoniously closed it in their faces.

“Well, Mr. Noriaki said we made a good team and he was very impressed. But of course he would say that,” Castiel pointed out.

“Maybe you can lean on the door and eavesdrop on what they’re saying?” Meg suggested.

Castiel glared at her and she shrugged.

“It was just an idea.”

“I would have to inform Noriaki-sama if you did that,” Charlie said. She had her own laptop open over her knees and there was a murmur of music coming out of the earphones she was holding in her hand. Despite the bad joke, she smiled at them. “So it went okay?”

“As good as it could have gone,” Castiel replied.

Charlie closed her laptop when they approached her and stood up, an enthusiastic smile plastering on her face.

“Great! Well, my instructions are to take you to launch now and maybe sightseeing after we’re done. Unless you prefer to go back to the hotel and rest before we pick you up to go to the onsen?”

After the long, uncomfortable night she’d had, going back to the hotel for a quick nap sounded like paradise to Meg. There was really nothing she would enjoy more, but one look at Castiel’s face let her know that wasn’t going to be possible. His eyes were glimmering and there was a smile on his face, all light up like Charlie had just offered him to give him a puppy.

And they could have gone their separate ways, there was nothing odd about that. She was tired, he still had some energy left. It wasn’t like the golden bands they were still wearing on their fingers bound them by the hip or anything.

But then she remembered how much Castiel had protested about taking advantage of the kindness of people and how he had almost blown the lie they had agreed to tell, and Meg realized there was no way in hell she could leave him alone with Charlie.

“We’d love to go,” she said. Castiel turned to her so fast he almost broke his neck.

“Really?”

“Yeah, honey,” Meg replied, with a big grin. “Didn’t you say you always wanted to see Tokyo?”


	4. Chapter 4

Castiel was sure Meg must have offended a lot of Japanese ancestor with her eating habits.

“No, don’t pour it all in… Meg, you still have to be able to taste the pork.”

He was sure it was useless, because Meg looked at him straight in the eye and poured even more sauce over her dish. But Castiel still felt compelled to protest.

“You are a nightmare to eat with.”

“Don’t think you’re exactly a prize, either,” Meg replied, rolling her eyes. “Can’t you just relax and enjoy the food instead of contemplating the precise ratio of sweet sauce per square meter of pork that you’re allowed to put in?”

“I thought you, as a mathematician, would be more worried about that sort of thing,” Castiel groaned.

“Food is one of those things where you don’t have to think about the numbers while you’re eating it,” Meg replied, philosophically. “You can worry about quantities when you’re preparing it or about the calories after you eat them. But there’s no use in thinking about it while you’re eating it.”

She struggled with the sticks for a moment before she realized Castiel was staring at her.

“What?” she asked sheepishly.

“You’re full of insightful thoughts, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, well.” Meg shrugged. “It took me a while to have a healthy relationship with food.”

She didn’t elaborate on what she meant by that and Castiel didn’t ask. Charlie returned to the table from the bathroom with a sigh.

“Sorry, there were a couple of girls who insisted on touching my hair,” she explained with a laugh. “Are you enjoying your food?”

“Yes, thank you,” Castiel said, with a smile. “And this restaurant is truly lovely.”

Charlie had taken them to a small, family-owned place on a commercial street that was jam-packed with people, mostly young students, tourist or businessmen on their lunch break. However, she waved at the matronly woman standing behind the counter and she immediately smiled and made place for them in a table in a corner. Charlie explained she came there a lot and Castiel could see why: it was cozy and cheerful, with the smell of delicious food impregnating the air and beautiful pictures of geishas hanging from the walls. Castiel was instantly taken in by it, so much so that he didn’t notice Meg taking over the sauce until she had poured almost half of it on her plate.

“I’m really glad you’re enjoying yourselves,” Charlie said, taking a look at her cellphone. “We have time. We can go around the market. Or we can go to the Tokyo Tower.”

All of those plans sounded wonderful to Castiel, but he still threw a glance on Meg’s direction before he said a word. It had taken him a moment to understand why she had insisted on coming with, but he had soon reached the conclusion she didn’t trust him to keep up the charade by himself. It offended him a little, but then again, he couldn’t blame her for wanting to be on top of things.

Meg finished swallowing her piece of pork and asked:

“Do we have time to do both?”

“Oh, yes. We’re not expected at the onsen until later tonight,” Charlie explained.

“Alright, well… we’ll get going after dessert,” Meg said simply.

For as much as he had protested about it, Castiel was glad that Meg had decided to play the indulging wife. It was always a treat when he got to immerse himself in other cultures and places, when he got to catch a glimpse of the lives of people that literally live halfway around the world and whose names he never knew and would never know. But for a brief moment, he got to walk their streets and share their space, see what their saw every day on their way to school and work. He wondered what made them happy, what caused them tribulations, what they were thinking as they passed him by. It made him feel lucky to be alive, connected to a world that was always bigger and more surprising than most people imagined.

There were petals of cherry blossoms raining down the street and the sky was blue above their heads. Castiel didn’t care if he looked too much like a tourist doing it, but he took out his phone and started snapping pictures of it all. Gabriel would inquire about what kind of alcohol could be found there and Michael wouldn’t be too excited about his pictures unless they managed to close the deal, but Anna would tolerate his rambling with patience. It made him sad that his siblings couldn’t always slow down and appreciate that there was a whole world right outside of their offices.

He snapped a picture of Meg leaning over to check some ceramic tea pots. The camera’s shutter sound gave him away, and she turned her head at him quickly. Castiel started saying he didn’t mean to take a picture of her, but she smirked and shook her head.

“Give me that,” she said, snapping the phone from his hands. “You might as well be on your own pictures if you want to go all touristy in here.”

“Thanks,” Castiel said, before reminding himself she was being nice because she needed to pretend she was his wife. He still smiled for the camera as she made him pose next to a cherry tree. “We should buy some souvenirs.”

“Okay, sure. What does your brother like?”

“You don’t have to buy anything for him,” Castiel said, frowning. “I can do that. You can buy something for your family.”

“Yeah.” Meg chuckled, but avoided his gaze. “There’s really no one I have to buy souvenirs for, so I might as well suck up to my boss.”

She walked away among the crowd before Castiel could ask her what she meant. It was disconcerting: he was also catching glimpses of Meg’s life, of who she was. It felt almost like discovering a new place.

He brought sake for Gabriel and wind chimes for Anna. Deciding on a gift for Michael was harder. His oldest brother was a serious man who was always in his office, but he didn’t really keep anything personal in there. He didn’t have time for games or books and Castiel figured buying him a supply of ramen would have come off a little passive aggressive.

Meg had the right idea, however. She found a woman who sold jewelry and somehow managed to explain to her what she wanted through a combination of gestures and the few English words the woman could understand. By the time Castiel caught up with her, the seller was showing her a pair of earrings in her hand.

“Yes. Yes, I want these,” Meg said and took out her wallet. “How much?”

The woman put the cufflinks on the counter and then raised her ten fingers, closed her hands and raised them again, then five more fingers. Meg nodded and put two thousand and five hundred yens on the counter. The woman nodded, satisfied they could understand each other.

“Ah, Cas, right on time,” Meg said when she saw him. She picked the earrings, and upon further inspection, Castiel realized they weren’t earrings but golden cufflinks with jade decorations. “You think Michael will like these?”

“That’s… yeah, that’s something he would wear,” Castiel admitted. Feeling a little odd because he didn’t think about it earlier.

Meg nodded satisfied and handed them back to the woman so she could wrap them up. The woman did and then pointed at a wall where several charms and necklaces hang.

“Oh, no.” Meg said and shook her head. “That’s fine. Thank you.”

“Pretty necklace for the pretty lady!” the woman insisted. She picked up necklace with an amber pendant hanging from it and dangled it in front of Meg. Though her eyes lit up, Meg smiled at her politely and refused again.

“I’ll go get Charlie before this woman convinces me to buy the entire store. See you outside.”

And she walked out, leaving the seller clearly unsatisfied. She recovered quickly, though: she offered the necklace to Castiel with a wide smile:

“Pretty necklace?”

It didn’t take him long to realize why Meg had fled so quickly. He came out of the store with two more mall packages than he was expecting: a tie bar for Michael and a pair of earrings for Anna. He justified that by telling himself that way he wanted to keep the wind chimes and hang them in his office. The third gift he had got, he had no way to excuse it.

It was the amber pendant with the charm that Meg had liked.

It wasn’t like he wanted to give her a gift or anything like that. Because they weren’t friends and she didn’t strike him like the kind of woman who would care for that kind of stuff. But the way her face had lit up upon seeing, he just couldn’t not buy it.

Though how he was going to give it to her, he had no idea. “I just thought you would like this and I noticed you didn’t buy anything for yourself” sounded extremely creepy, especially coming from someone who wasn’t close to her. Maybe he could wait until her birthday and give it to her. But he had no idea when that was, and for all he knew, he would be holding on to the pendant for eleven months. Christmas was also still too far away.

He really had no idea how he was going to solve this.

Meg and Charlie were waiting for him at the end of the street and beckoned him. Charlie led them through the crowded streets towards a subway station and half an hour later, they were watching the city getting smaller at their feet as the elevator of the Tower took them up. Meg didn’t say a word about being scared, but she did stand closer to Castiel and moved her hand towards him, only to stop herself right before touching him. He pretended not to notice. Things were already getting mixed up enough in his head in regards to Meg without having to add…

The elevator rattled and Meg jumped forwards and squeezed his hand. There was panic in her face as she did, so Castiel bit back the chuckle that almost escaped his lips.

“It’s okay. We’re here.”

“Remind me why I agreed to come all the way up here,” Meg complained.

Castiel could have said something about how nobody had pressured her and keep bantering with her, but Charlie was listening to them. So instead, he moved closer to Meg and smiled at her.

“Because you love me.”

Meg stared up at him for a moment, before scoffing and glancing away. Castiel reveled in the fact he had managed to take her by surprise for once.

She still didn’t let of his hand as they walked around the observatory. The place was busy with people taking up the telescopes, but somehow he didn’t think Meg would particularly care about that. She stood far enough from the window so she could watch the horizon without having to think about how high they were and took a deep breath before she faced the view.

“Huh,” she muttered. “This is actually very nice.”

It was only then that Castiel realized he had been paying more attention to her than to the view for the last five minutes. He refused to wonder why that was and instead focus on the sky in front of them. The sun was sinking, so the entire city was bathed in a faint orange light. The buildings were slowly starting to light up, their windows glowing golden and silver in the distance. They could see the cars rolling on the streets, like busy ants heading for their nest underground.

“It’s like being in another planet,” Meg commented. There was a reverence in her voice Castiel didn’t expect to hear from her.

He had travelled to other countries with his siblings and in one occasion, with his then girlfriend. It hadn’t always been the greatest experience. They had complained because the food was different, they had complained about having to walk or take public transportation and the fact the people abroad didn’t speak English. April, his ex-girlfriend, had spent their last two days in Toscana hiding away in the hotel, claiming to have a headache.

Meg had eaten the food with gusto. She had made herself understand even though the lady in the jewelry shop spoke very little English. And despite her fear of heights, she was standing there with him, holding his hand, atop of another planet.

And his mind was going haywire trying to remember why he didn’t like her.

Meg realized she was staring at him and turned her face towards him. Her eyes were much bigger and warmer than he thought, or maybe they looked that way because she was stepping closer to him.

Castiel completely lost track of what happened next. Her hand was on the back of his neck and she was pulling him down. Her lips were soft against his, a soft graze on his mouth. Her perfume invaded his nostrils, a sweet scent of roses that was almost intoxicating.

It was so brief he almost could believe he had imagined it. She stepped backwards before she he could kiss her back or push her away. At that point, Castiel wasn’t sure which option he would have gone for.

“Hey!” Charlie called them. “Do you guys want me to take a picture of you?”

“Okay!” Meg took out her own cellphone and handed it to Charlie. They found a spot near the wide window, with Tokyo at their backs and Meg passed an arm around his waist and pulled him close. “Smile, dammit,” she said.

Castiel still felt his cheeks burning and his mind reeling from what just happened. The warm brush of her hip against his sent a shiver down his back before he put an arm around her shoulders and forced a smile in Charlie’s direction.

This was not… this definitely wasn’t in his plans at all.

 

* * *

 

 

Meg had googled what an onsen was because she was a bit embarrassed to admit that she didn’t know and she had cringed when she realized they were expected to bring an overnight bag. She was hoping to have a mild dinner and tuck in early, but since Charlie had mentioned their future business partners and their family would be there, there was no way she could avoid it.

Castiel had a bag big enough to hold a change of clothes and their respective travel kits. Meg noticed this time he was bringing a razor and she was tempted to tease him a little about it, but if the awkward silence sprinkled with a few curt words they had shared since they had gone into the elevator was anything to go by, now probably wasn’t the time.

“I think that’s everything,” Castiel announced.

“Good. I’ll tell Charlie we’re coming down. You can bring the bag,” Meg decided. She headed for the door, but she stopped when he called her name.

“When we were in the Tower… you kissed me,” he stated as she slowly turned to look at him. His face gave away the confusion he felt: his eyebrows were knitted together and his eyes were fixed on her like lasers. He hadn't asked a question, but Meg knew that he was expecting some sort of answer from her. She shifted the weight of her body from one foot to another.

"Yes," she said. It was a pretty stupid thing to say, but she needed to gain time until she could recover her balance. She swallowed and forced herself to grin at him. "I thought it was appropriate. Charlie was looking at us. Don't think about it too much."

Castiel tilted his head. Meg did her mightiest to hold his gaze, but deep inside, she was begging that he would take that explanation and leave her alone. Because it was something that she had time to think about later, knowing he would bring it up. Because it was a flimsy excuse and if he insisted, she had no idea how what she would say.

Because the truth was, she didn't know. It had been a spur of the moment kind of thing and now she couldn't get it out of her head. She was still thinking about his stubble rasping against her cheek, about his hand squeezing hers tight. There had been a knot in her stomach that felt a lot like vertigo when he'd looked at her with his bright blue eyes and even know, she still felt like she was performing a very complicated balancing act.

If she took one wrong step, she was in serious risk of catching feelings for him.

After an eternity, Castiel finally looked away.

"Very well," he said as he leaned to pick up their bag. "I won't think about it."

Meg turned her face away so he wouldn't notice her relief.

"Let's get going then."

They had rented a van. Meg wasn't sure how confident Noriaki was about this entire thing, but he definitely was going to great lengths to make this business trip as informal and fun as it could be.

Noriaki waved at them and pointed at the seats he had reserved for them, right in front of Charlie, who seemed to be having a very serious talk with a ten year old child by her side about his video game console. There were two teenage girls talking excitedly and showing each other something on their phones, while the heads of the publishing companies and their wives remained in silence. One of them was sleeping, sprawled out in his seat as his wife gave them a look of discontent.

Meg sat by the window while Castiel accommodate their bag on top of the seat. She fixed her attention on the view beyond the window, because she was still uncomfortable after the conversation in the room. Luckily for her, Castiel didn’t try to engage with her, instead choosing to have a conversation with Noriaki. Meg only watched as they left behind the busy streets and tall buildings and took a turn towards a highway surrounded by dark trees and vast fields. The slow march of the van and the whispered conversations lull her. Meg’s eyes fell heavy, the lack of sleep from the night before and that day’s hustle finally catching up to her. She closed them for a moment, promising herself it would only be for a little while…

“Meg,” Castiel’s voice called her from a million miles away. “Meg, wake up.”

“No,” she groaned. “Unless we’re already there…”

“We’re already here,” he informed her.

Meg blinked a couple of times and suddenly realized she wasn’t leaning down against her seat, but against Castiel’s chest. She jolted away from him, feeling her face growing hot with embarrassment. Goddammit, why couldn’t she stop making a fool of herself?

Castiel didn’t notice or chose to outright ignore her uncomfortableness. He stood up and brought down their bag before extending his hand towards her. Meg stared at it for a second until her brain reminded her she was supposed to be married to this guy.

The onsen looked quite lovely from the outside, with windows glowing golden underneath a curved roof. A short woman in a kimono came to the door to receive them. Castiel informed her in a whisper that she was Noriaki’s great aunt and that she would be their host while they stayed there. Inside the lobby, three young girls, also wearing traditional clothes, bow to them and handed them slippers so they could take off their shoes right there.

Meg was glad to discover that they had been assigned to a section of the cabin along with Charlie, Noriaki, the one woman head of the company (Yumiko Oda, she remembered, despite the fog of exhaustion in her brain) and her husband. However, her heart sank when she saw their room. It was big, but most of the space was occupied by what she could only describe as a double mattress on top of a wooden platform.

“It’s a futon,” Castiel explained as he left the bag on the floor.

“No, it’s not. A futon is supposed to turn into a sofa,” Meg argued.

Castiel smiled at her as if her protest amused him.

“At least is big enough that we won’t need pillows.”

That wasn’t what bothered Meg. In the hotel, they could change in the bathroom to avoid catching an eyeful of each other’s nakedness. Here, there was no bathroom, nowhere they could hide. It was going to be hard to explain why a couple that were supposed to be well into their fourth (or third) year of marriage had that sort of inhibitions.

Before she could come up with a solution to that dilemma, the door slid besides them (another thing she found baffling. How they were supposed to knock on those things?) and Charlie popped her head in.

“Hey, Meg. Yumiko and I are going to take a bath. We thought you might want to join us.” She smiled and when she sensed Meg’s hesitation, she added: “She really wants to talk to you.”

“Uh…” Meg threw a look at Castiel, who shrugged. “Yeah, okay. Give me a second.”

She took her towel with her, but she shouldn’t have bothered. One of the girls they had seen earlier handed them some along with white swimming caps and pointed them to a screen where they could undress. Meg was tempted to ask if they could put one of these in their room.

The small pool was surrounded by dark wood and had steps where they could sit. The water was a little too hot for Meg’s liking in a warm night like that, but she guessed they must have been a wonder on winter. It took her a second to get used to it, but when she did, she found that the water lapping at her skin was actually quite relaxing. She breathed in the hot vapor and let her head fall back on the wood. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the girl in the kimono lightning up candles, which gave the scene an even more surreal vibe.

Yuriko said something while looking at her.

“She wants to congratulate you for your presentation,” Charlie translated. “She thinks it was very enlightening and you seem like a very confident woman.”

“Oh.” Meg was always bad at receiving compliments, but she made an effort to conceal it and replied: “Thank you. I did my best.”

They managed to have a very cordial conversation with Charlie translating for the two. Meg found out Yuriko had taken charge of the company recently, favored by the former head over her male competitors, which to her was a big deal. Meg could relate to this: there were few girls following the same courses as her in college and despite her working harder that other interns in the first company she had worked for, she had been passed up for a paid position in favor of a guy who was far more incompetent, but was the nephew of someone in upper management. The boss at her second job was a creep named Crowley who kept making double-entendre comments at her and staring at her cleavage. (Yuriko nodded, as if she knew exactly what Meg meant). Meg had spent four years bidding her time there until a better opportunity came out and that was how she had ended up working in Halos.

Which brought them to the topic of their husbands. Yuriko had also met hers at work, he was one of the manga editors that worked for her publishing house and they had been married for less than a year. In fact, their anniversary would be next month and she was very excited to celebrate it him.

“When’s your anniversary, Meg?” Charlie asked.

“It’s, uh… June,” Meg said.

“Ah, summer wedding! So cute!” Charlie said, but Meg had the uncomfortable impression she was focusing excessively on that sort of details.

A few minutes later, Yuriko announced she was tired, wished them both goodnight and stood up. Meg was about to follow her example when a hand wrapped tightly around her wrist and kept her in place. She turned to look at Charlie, surprised.

“What’s the hurry?” Charlie asked, with a wide grin.

“Uh… it’s late and we’ve had a long day…” Meg tried to say. “We’re getting all wrinkled in here…”

“I know, but can you stay another moment? I wanted to ask you about something you mentioned.”

“Okay?” Meg mumbled, a little disconcerted. But Charlie was a bit of an oddball, so…

“See, I found it interesting when you told us about your former creepy boss,” Charlie replied. “Because you are thirty years old, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” Meg replied, frowning. “What does that…?”

“If you graduated at twenty-four… nah, you’re a smart woman. Let’s say you graduated at twenty-three. You did a year of unpaid internship and then five more in Crowley’s company, correct?” Her tone was still cheerful, but Meg’s stomach did a flip. Was she…? What was she saying? “That means you haven’t been working for Halos that long. One year, two years top, am I right?”

“What does that have to…?” Meg started, trying to keep her voice light, but Charlie cut her off.

“I guess it’s just a bit odd to me that you didn’t go to work for your husband’s company sooner, especially having a creep leering at you on daily basis. You talked about Halos as if it was a heaven-sent opportunity, but if you have been married to Castiel for three years, the opportunity was there long before you got tired of your creepy boss.”

Meg felt a little dizzy. Her mind was racing, unable to come up with a solution for this, unable to say some words that would save her. Almost as if she was miles away, she heard herself ask:

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying–” Charlie pulled Meg’s hand up, so her ring would glimmer in the candlelight “– perhaps you and Castiel aren’t what you’re trying to make us all believe.”


	5. Chapter 5

A long silence fell between the two. Meg stared at Charlie through the vapors of the water. She had been stupid, she had been so stupid. Why the hell had she given precise years when telling her Crowley story?

“I have a bit of a confession myself,” Charlie started. “I don’t really work for Noriaki… well, I do, but not in the way I made you believe. I collect information that he might find useful for his business exploits about the people he’s considering entering a contract with.”

“You’re a P. I.”

“Essentially.” Charlie shrugged. “Anyway, before he invited you, he had me conduct investigations on all the Novak siblings. Castiel was the hardest one to track down. That man is like a hermit when it comes to social media.”

For some reason, that didn’t surprised Meg in the slightest.

“So, I didn’t think it was odd when I failed to find out he was married to someone within his own company, but it did baffle me a little when I check your Facebook and your Instagram and found no trace of him. I thought perhaps you’re just as private as he is, but I started suspecting something was really off when you listed your relationship status as ‘single’.”

Meg closed her eyes. Granted, this one was on her. She had been too trusting. No, she had underestimated Charlie completely.

“I didn’t tell Noriaki about this, because I thought it was ridiculous. No one would lie about something like that,” Charlie continued. “But now I have confirmation that you don’t know Castiel as long as you claim, let alone been married to him. So… what gives?”

Meg had learned the art of lying as a child and she knew that the moment you were caught, it would only be worse to deny or invent a bigger lie to cover it. A half-truth, however, was enough to confuse whoever was doing the interrogation.

“It was… it was a stupid joke,” she groaned.

She told her about the newlyweds ploy to get promoted to first class, about how it had worked and how they had forgotten to take out the rings. However, she made sure to frame it as if it was a prank they didn’t think would really work and then how embarrassed they had been that she was being so kind to them that they couldn’t come clean to her.

Charlie’s frown didn’t soften at these compliments.

“So you’re not married?”

“No, we’re not,” Meg admitted. Charlie tried and failed to suppress a smirk of confidence. “We are… together, though. Dating. Hell, I don’t know. We haven’t exactly put a tag on it yet.”

This confused Charlie enough that it gave Meg time to think of what to say next:

“It’s been only a couple of months. He doesn’t want his brother to know because he doesn’t think Michael would approve of him dating someone at work and… well, I don’t want to be the girl who moves up the ladder just because she’s sleeping with one of the bosses, you know? So… these few days when we actually get to be a couple… shit, I don’t even get to hold his hand when we’re home.” She made a pause and shook her head. Charlie moved backwards, blinking. She obviously hadn’t expected Meg to pour out her heart to her like that and now she was confused. Which was exactly what Meg wanted. “Listen, if you gotta report this back to Noriaki, I get that. Just… you know. If we go home empty-handed, Michael is really going to be mad at us and we’re probably going to have to confess the reason. And Castiel cares about me, I know he does, but if his brother tells him something… shit, I can’t believe it I blew it. Again.”

She looked away and hoped the sweat in her face due to the vapor could pass for tears.

Charlie stayed stunned and silent for several minutes.

“Woah… you’re… you’re really into this guy, aren’t you?”

“He’s… he’s just so great,” Meg said, with a hiccup she hoped would sound like a strangled sob. “He’s smart, he has a weird sense of humor and he’s just so kind to me… I don’t know what it says about me that I’m so head over heels for the first guy that comes along and treats me with decency, but there it is.”

“No, honey, no, it doesn’t say anything about you,” Charlie said, putting a hand on Meg’s shoulder. “It says something about how men treat women in general, but it doesn’t say anything about you.”

Meg let out a couple more of fake sobs and then took a deep breath to “collect” herself.

“I guess… I guess I have to go tell him the deal won’t go through,” she muttered. “Dammit, and he was so excited too, that Michael trusted him with this. He always wants to impress his big brother, you know? Anyway.” Meg stood up and wiped the invisible tears from her cheeks. “I’m sorry if we caused you any troubles…”

She stood up, the wet towel clinging to her body, took a step to get out of the pool… and the entire room started spinning. Her legs were suddenly made of jelly, refusing to hold her up and her brain only had time to focus on two possibilities: she either landed face first on the wooden floor and broke her skull, or she fell backwards into the pool and drowned. The second sounded a lot less painful.

“Woah, Meg!” Charlie called her. Someone was also speaking rapidly in Japanese in the distance. “Meg!”

Meg closed her eyes and let herself fall down.

 

* * *

 

The men invited him to a game of cards, but Castiel wasn’t familiar with the rules, so he chose to sit back and watch them play instead. He ended sitting in armchair and having a long conversation with Keiji, Yuriko Oda’s husband. It turned out the man had some very… personal questions to ask him, because he too was married to a powerful businesswoman and he wanted to know how Castiel and Meg managed to find a balance between their love life and their professional life.

“Well, we…” Castiel, who had it so easy to translate Meg’s endless math diatribe, struggled to find the words to lie to this man’s face. “We… try to take time to ourselves. Travel, try new things. There’s no one I would rather spend time with.”

Keiji listened to him like Castiel was spouting some sort of holy truth.

“And the children?”

“Oh, we don’t have any. Yet,” Castiel explained. “My wife says she doesn’t want any, but maybe someday…”

“Yes.” Keiji smiled as if he was sharing a secret with him. “Someday.”

Castiel didn’t stay much longer, despite Noriaki and the others’ insistence. He was so tired he figured he wouldn’t even have time to feel uncomfortable about having to share a bed with Meg.

Turned out there were plenty of things he could still feel uncomfortable about. When he approached their room, he heard a cacophony of female voices, talking rapidly in English and Japanese.

“I’m fine!” Meg assured somebody. “It was nothing. I already feel better…”

“Ah, no way!” Charlie said and then in Japanese: “Can you bring her some ice and water, please?”

One of the onsen’s maids passed running by his side. The poor girl looked terribly scared, her eyes open wide and her hair in disarray as she disappeared in what Castiel assumed was the kitchen’s direction. He looked through the door and he immediately wished he hadn’t.

Meg was sitting on the futon, wrapped up in a yukata. Well, the lower part of her body was, because it was pulled down to keep her shoulders and the top of her breasts uncovered. Her cheeks were bright red and her hair fell in wet locks over her shoulders. Charlie knelt next to her, also in a yukata, and throwing air in her face with a paper fan.

“What… what’s going on?” Castiel asked, trying to avoid looking directly at Meg’s body.

“Meg fainted.”

“I didn’t faint!” Meg protested. “I got a little dizzy from the vapors, but I’m okay…”

“I will decide when you’re okay,” Charlie replied, harshly. “And I won’t be convinced of it until you’ve had some water.”

Almost as if she had summoned her, the maid reappeared with a jar of ice cold water and a glass. She graciously moved towards the futon, pour some water in the ice and offered it to Meg with a reverent bow. Meg was obviously finding all of this attention annoying, but she took the glass and gave it a long gulp.

“There!” she said. “Happy now?”

“Happier,” Charlie replied, uncompromising.

Castiel figured he had to do something, so he walked into the room and sat on the futon by Meg’s side. He placed the back of his hand against her forehead.

“You’re still hot,” he told her.

“Why, thank you, I’m glad you think that.”

If she was making sarcastic remarks, then she probably truly was okay. He sighed and turned his attention towards the maid to thank her for her attentions.

“We can handle it from here.”

She seemed reluctant to leave, but after looking at Charlie and receiving an encouraging nod, she stood up, bow at them once more and left. Charlie stood up as if she was going to do the same.

“You keep drinking that water,” she warned Meg. “Castiel, can I have a word with you outside?”

That only managed to disconcert him further. He looked at Meg, but despite her protests, she seemed very busy with her second glass of water.

Charlie slid the door shut behind them.

“Look, she’s a bit shaken right now, but when she’s calmer, you can tell her I’m not going to say anything.”

Castiel blinked at her a couple of times.

“About what?”

Charlie raised her hand and pointed at her empty ring finger. Castiel swallowed, his eyes going involuntarily towards the band that still glimmered in his hand.

“Oh,” he muttered. “I… thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Charlie put a hand on his shoulder and look him straight in the eye. “You’re a very lucky man, Castiel Novak.”

That confused Castiel even more. He had a million questions, but he decided maybe this was a great opportunity to keep his mouth shut.

Meg had almost emptied the jar of water and thrown a towel over her head when he went back inside. She still hadn’t pulled her yukata up, but she started doing it the moment she noticed he was in there.

“You know, this thing is really nice,” she commented, lazily rubbing her hair. “You should try them, I think they left one for you in the corner.”

Castiel saw it, but hesitated. However, Meg was decidedly not looking at him as he poured herself yet another glass, so he took off his shirt and jeans.

“How did Charlie know?” he asked as he tied the belt around his waist.

“Oh, that,” Meg muttered and grimaced. “My bad.”

Castiel tilted his head and decided she was never going to get her hair dry like that. He knelt in front of her, took the towel and started rubbing her hair energetically. Meg’s eyes open in surprise, but she let him continue.

“Well?” he asked.

Meg huffed and told him about the very interesting conversation that she’d had with Charlie in the pool right before fainting (“I didn’t faint! I just… stumbled a little”) and how she had convinced her that there was some underlying truth in her ruse after all. Castiel almost wanted to laugh. She had been so worried that he would be the one to blow up their cover and she was the one who ended up giving Charlie the key she needed to figure them out.

“Yeah, yeah, don’t be too proud of yourself,” she groaned at him. “I slipped. It happens.”

“Well, I’m glad you didn’t hit your head.”

“Not really the time, Castiel,” she said, but a small smirk appeared on her lips, as if she was barely trying to contain the laughter.

She looked so beautiful like that, smiling and with her eyes shining bright. And she was so close to him he couldn’t help but let his yes fall to his lips, the lips that had been on his just hours before…

Meg cleared her throat and Castiel snapped back to reality.

“We should sleep.”

Castiel got up to hit the switch off, but there was still enough starlight pouring in through the window that he didn’t have to make the way back to the futon in complete darkness. Meg had already slipped under the covers and she raised her head a little when she noticed him hesitating.

“What are you waiting for?”

Castiel really had no excuse. He settled down on the mattress – it really was more comfortable than it appeared – and stared at the ceiling for a very long time, toying with the ring on his finger. Meg wasn’t sleeping either: he could hear shifting and shuffling, trying to find a comfortable position.

He really had nothing to lose by trying to make some light conversation with her.

“You know what’s odd?”

“Besides the fact that Charlie believed that I could ever date a guy like you?” Meg asked.

“Rude,” he muttered. It almost discouraged him from continuing talking, but he realized that would make him look slightly immature. “You had the rings ready, right there in the airport. I never asked where you got them.”

Meg didn’t say a word for a while. She rolled over herself to face Castiel and tapped her fingers on the pillow, as if she was wondering what to tell him. When she spoke, she did it so softly Castiel had to ask her to repeat herself.

“They’re my parents’, okay?” she replied, a little irritated. “That’s how I got them.”

“Oh,” Castiel muttered. “I… I thought you said you didn’t have any family.”

“I don’t,” Meg replied. “You really wanna talk about it? That story’s kind of a bummer.”

Castiel didn’t say anything. Of course he didn’t want to pressure her into telling him her story, but if she chose to do it…

Meg sighed deeply and started talking, almost in a whisper:

“My mom left when I was six. My dad died when I was eight. He was an alcoholic. I don’t know exactly what killed him, but I know it was alcohol related. I bounced from foster home to foster home until I was of age. I’m still drowning on student loans. I warned you it was a bummer. Goodnight.”

“Oh,” Castiel repeated, because he really had no idea what else to say. “I’m sorry.” Yes, that seemed appropriate.

“Don’t be. It was a long time ago.”

“That’s not the sort of thing you just shrug off, Meg.”

“You sound like my therapist,” Meg replied. “Yes, I know I have issues. You don’t have to tell me.”

Castiel went quiet again. It was clear he had touched a sensitive issue and now he was regretting doing so. Meg shifted once more on the bed and sighed.

“You know, that’s one thing I envy about you and your siblings. I know Michael can be a pain in the ass and all, but he still takes care about you and the others. You’ve got each other. Sometimes when I was little and bouncing from place to place, I kept thinking how nice it would be to have… a sister or something. Of course, it’s very likely we would’ve ended up separated, but still…”

“I can understand that,” Castiel replied. “I complain about them and sometimes I take them for granted, but… I do love them. And I’m thankful for them.”

Meg nodded, as if that was exactly what she was expecting to hear.

“Let’s get some sleep.”

“Okay. Goodnight.”

Meg turned around and left watching her back for a very long time.

“Meg?” he called after a few minutes.

She groaned, indicating she was awake.

“What’s wrong with me? I mean, why wouldn’t you date me?”

“Go the fuck to sleep, Castiel.”

 

* * *

 

The following morning was odd. Meg woke up to the strange realization that she felt… perfectly fine. Awake, happy, well-rested. She was comfortable and warm and all her worries had vanished in the night.

That lasted for about three seconds. That’s when panic hit her and she realized there was no way in hell that she could be feeling this great without something being terribly wrong. She must have been late for work. She must have forgotten an important deadline. Wasn’t she supposed to be at the airport? What if Castiel had called and her cellphone was off and…?

She sat up on the bed and opened her eyes. There was a warm, spring sun coming through the window. She watched the golden rays playing in the paper walls as reality slowly started seeping back into his brain. She was halfway around the world from her home and she didn’t have to go to work today. She had no idea what time it was and it didn’t really matter. There was no rush that morning, nowhere she had to be.

She looked to her side to see Castiel, still peacefully asleep and snoring slightly. He looked a lot difference when he wasn’t frowning: peaceful. Calm. Almost like an angel. The previous night, he had been so attentive and understanding while she rambled on about her parents and he hadn’t make a big deal of it, like most people tended to do. He had just listened to her and made a joke about them dating. At least, she thought it was a joke. It had to have been a joke.

She kicked the sheets aside and put on the slippers they had provided her. This really wasn’t the time to be thinking like this. There was never a time to be thinking like that. There was some truth to the excuses she had fed Charlie the previous night: it could never happen, because workplace relationships were difficult and complicated and messed everything up. And why the fuck was she even considering that? She didn’t like Castiel. She wasn’t attracted to him at all.

She took off her yukata and changed into her normal clothes as quickly and silently as she could. After all, she didn’t want Castiel to catch an eyeful of her half-dressed. She took her travel kit with her and hoped she wouldn’t get lost in the onsen’s hallways on the way to the bathroom.

Half an hour later, she was feeling refreshed, calmer and able to put aside the thought she had told Castiel things she had only ever discussed with her therapist. And the fact she had a therapist. No, out of sight, out of mind. Now she had to focus on being nice to their potential business partners and having breakfast with them.

She found Yuriko and her husband on the way of the bathroom. They beckoned her and told her something on Japanese. Meg smiled at them and shook her head.

“Oh… right,” Yuriko said, her accent almost undistinguishable. “Do you want… uh, breakfast?”

Meg blinked at her, surprised.

“You can speak English?”

“I rean… learn a little,” Yuriko explained. “In school. Not very good.”

Meg told her she appreciated it anyway and followed them to the diner. The maids were already walking around the tables with big teapots in their hands, serving tea to the couples that were already there (the two teenagers and the ten year old boy were nowhere to be seen). Meg was wondering how to ask them if they had coffee instead when the maid that had helped her the night before approach the table with worry in the eyes. She said something to her.

“I don’t understand…”

“She asks… you alright?” Yuriko explained.

There was something extremely touching about her asking this and how she smiled when Meg assured her she was alright. She couldn’t find it in herself to refuse it when she put a cup of tea in front of her. She wasn’t particularly fond of green tea, but when she raised it to her lips, she found it wasn’t as bitter and metallic as the one she had tried at home.

“This is delicious,” Meg said. Yuriko frowned for a moment as if she didn’t understand what Meg meant by that. “It’s tasty. Very good!”

Yuriko raised her eyebrows in understanding and turned to her husband to explain what Meg had said. He got excited and starting talking rapidly about something, while Yuriko nodded at him, presumably agreeing with everything. Meg looked at one and the other, disconcerted. She was going to have to ask Castiel to teach her at least some common courtesy phrases for her to say.

Which he wouldn’t. Because after this they would just go back to ignoring each other around the office. This whole think didn’t mean they were friends or anything. Oh, and there she was, reeling again.

Before she could put her head in order, the reason for all that turmoil showed up in person. Like the morning before, he looked scruffy and still not completely awake, squinting his eyes at the light as he sat by her side.

“Good morning,” he muttered.

Meg immediately pulled from his shirt and started trying to squash his hair a little bit.

“Really? You didn’t even try with your fingers or anything?”

“I’m sorry.” He yawned. “I didn’t want to miss breakfast…”

“How are you a functional adult? Seriously. And you could have at least shaven before you showed up here. It wasn’t that hard.”

Castiel protested faintly while she kept nagging him about his appearance, but she stopped when she noticed something. He was smiling softly at her, with a tender look in his eyes. As if they went through this every morning. As if she was really his wife and this was a routine fight for them that they had because they didn’t have much else to fight about. As if there was something about her that he found so endearing and he just couldn’t hide it.

She stopped touching his hair and awkwardly looked away. She was imagining things. She must have been. Either that, or Castiel was an excellent actor. But then, why would he make that face if the only one who could see it was her? It didn’t make any sense…

Noriaki strode into the room, with a wide smile in his face, followed by the last two heads of the houses. He stood in the middle of the diner and opened his hands, so people would pay attention to him. He said something, slow and concise and then pointed at Castiel and Meg. Meg was about to ask what was going on when everyone there burst into applause, catching her completely by surprise. Even Yuriko and her husband were watching them close and smiling as they clapped.

Castiel blinked a couple of times, as if he was just as stunned as her.

“Noriaki is announcing a merger with Kaida and Rumiko. And they’re all going to sign the contract to let us translate their work.”

“What? Really?”

Yuriko extended her hand over the table.

“Congrats!”

That was the first of several hands Meg and Castiel had to shake following Noriaki’s announcement. Meg was still a little too stunned to do anything. She couldn’t believe everyone had got what they wanted. She couldn’t believe that they were returning to America the following day with their mission fulfilled and that everything would go back to normal.

She couldn’t believe it had been that easy.


	6. Chapter 6

“Well, of course it wasn’t _that_ easy,” Charlie confessed to her later. “I had to work extra trying to find some leverage. Oh, it’s nothing illegal. Kaida’s numbers have been coming up red for some months now and Rumiko has been trying to expand their catalogue with new writers and other genres. Noriaki is going to help them make that jump.”

She then continued sipping from her can of soda with pure calm. Meg and Castiel kept staring at her with incredulity. They were sitting in the back of the van, going back to the city after a copious lunch in which a lot of pleasantries and gifts had been exchanged (they each received a very comfy yukata) and contracts had been drafted in both English and Japanese and emailed to lawyers so they could be revised. Everything would be signed and mailed in sealed envelopes the following week, and the real work would begin. Michael was going to be really pleased when they told him.

They had fulfilled their mission, but Castiel had the impression they hadn’t really done much.

Charlie, however, seemed pretty pleased with herself.

“Of course, all that means is I get a pretty fat check and a long vacation. I’m thinking somewhere tropical and warm, with a lot of girls in bikinis…”

“You…” Meg started, but she was speechless. She shook her head and started again: “You orchestrated this entire thing.”

“I wouldn’t say orchestrated. I just gave Noriaki-sama a push in the right direction for him to get exactly what he wanted.”

Castiel wasn’t sure how he felt about this small girl with a pixie haircut and shady methods being able to influence that much on business deals, but Meg seemed impressed.

“Is there a way to contact you in America?”

“Of course.” Charlie opened her wallet and handed Meg a card with only a phone number on it. “My services aren’t cheap, though.”

And that was really it. The van parked right in front of their hotel and everybody got up. They shook hands once again with their new partners (that were three now, instead of five) and they all started going their separate ways. When Castiel blinked and looked again, Charlie had disappeared without saying another word. She had a flair for the dramatic; that much was certain.

Meg and Yuriko were talking about something and gesticulating, trying to transcend the language barrier.

“Tea?” Yuriko asked, making the gesture of drinking from a cup.

“I don’t understand, I’m sorry,” Meg said, sounding a little frustrated. “Castiel, what are they asking me?”

“Do you want to go to a tea ceremony?” Yuriko repeated in Japanese. “We have a friend who performs it beautifully. I think you will like it.”

Castiel explained it to Meg, fully expecting her to say that since the contracts were a done deal, they didn’t have to suck up to anybody anymore. But Meg surprised him by smiling wide and nodding.

“We would love to go.”

Castiel exchanged a look with Keiji. He seemed just as surprised about the friendship their wives had struck up, but unlike Castiel, he was evidently extremely pleased with it. They agreed to meet back in the lobby in half an hour and Meg and Castiel went up to their room to freshen up a little.

“I didn’t take you for the kind to… socialize,” Castiel commented.

“You say that I can’t make friends wherever I go?” Meg asked, disappearing inside the bathroom. “You wound me, Castiel.”

He laughed. It was an odd think that he’d found out: he liked to banter with Meg. She was a smart woman who always came up with a quick reply and her sense humor happened to match his sometimes. He didn’t know why he hadn’t realized this before. Perhaps because he had been so busy hating her.

He wondered what else they had in common. He wondered if he could find out once they were back home. Maybe ask her to go back with him…

Meg stepped out of the bathroom and froze on the doorway. She had fixed her hair and her make-up, and as always, she looked much more beautiful than Castiel had ever thought she could. But there was disconcert on her face, her eyes open and her lips parted as if a word or a breath had got between them. She stayed back for a moment, looking at him as if she didn’t know exactly what she was supposed to say.

“You gotta stop doing that,” she said in the end, shaking her head.

“What thing?”

“That… that staring at me thing.”

Castiel didn’t know he’d been doing that. He immediately looked away upon her mentioning it.

“I’m sorry.”

“Get ready. We don’t want to keep Yuriko waiting.”

Castiel made sure to take a good look at himself in the mirror this time. He had shaven that morning and he still didn’t have a five o’clock shade, but he made sure to sprinkle some water on his hair and pushed it down to get it under control. That way Meg wouldn’t have to worry about it and start trying to comb it.

She was tapping her food impatiently by the door and looked at him with a little annoyance in her eyes when he came out.

“Let’s go,” she muttered, without adding anything else.

Castiel followed her out of the room with the awkward impression that he had done something wrong. He wasn’t exactly sure why, but it must have bothered her, because she kept avoiding her eyes and she said nothing as they rode the elevator down towards the lobby. But the second they spotted Yuriko and Keiji, Meg put on her best smile and waved at them like there wasn’t any other place in the world where she’d rather be.

The place where the tea ceremony would take place was only a few streets away, in a traditional house surrounded by tall walls to keep it away from prying eyes. While Yuriko pressed the doorbell, Keiji explained to them that the house had once belonged to a very important family and now it was used for ceremonies and parties for tourist. The host was a personal friend of Yuriko, who had called that morning with the explicit intention of asking them to perform a ceremony for them.

“That is so nice of her!” Meg said. There wasn’t anything exaggerated or false about her statement. She genuinely seemed stunned by Yuriko’s generosity.

The host, a small woman wearing a colorful kimono, came to open the gates for them a moment later. She received them with a reverent bow and an invitation to walk around and admire the garden while she went over the finishing details she needed for the ceremony.

The place truly was stunningly beautiful. Camellias and azaleas in full bloom provided patches of color over the well-groomed green lawn. There was a bridge over a small pond with clear waters right next to a cherry tree. The petals weren’t falling just yet, but Castiel imagined how beautiful it would be to wake up to the waters covered in bright pink for the orange and white koi fish that swam around them.

“Look at those,” Meg commented pointing at them. “I didn’t know they could grow so big.”

“They are very beautiful,” Castiel agreed, but he wasn’t really looking at the koi.

He had fixed his eyes on Meg’s hand on the railing. She was still wearing the wedding band. They were still married… well, pretending to be so, anyway. So there wouldn’t be any problem with him stretching his hand and placing it on top of hers. It was only natural for a husband to want to grab his wife’s hand, he told himself as he inched closer to hers. They had agreed that this was an acceptable display for them. He could…

At the last second, he pulled back. No. It wasn’t fair. Just because she wouldn’t be able to shake him off if he grabbed her hand, it didn’t mean he had a right to do so. He would be taking advantage of a situation they had created for his own benefit. It didn’t…

Meg stretched her hand and put it on top of his as she pointed at a small waterfall nearby with her other hand. The water fell inside a hollow bamboo cane, making it rise and fall rhythmically, hitting the edge of the pond every time.

“What’s that called?”

“ _Shishi-odoshi_ ,”Castiel explained. “It was used to scare away the birds in rice plantations.”

“I love it.” Meg laughed. Her eyes shone bright, like those of a child learning something new. She turned to him, perhaps to ask him something else, but then she looked down and froze. It was as if only then she realized she was still touching him. Her cheeks turned a lovely shade of pink. “Sorry,” she muttered.

She tried to pull her hand away, but Castiel stopped her by putting his on top. He looked at her, hoping she would understand without him having to say it out loud. Hoping she would see that he didn’t mind this at all. Hoping to tell her without words that he actually enjoyed holding her hand like this.

Meg blinked a couple of times, as if she was disconcerted. But a after a few seconds, she moved her hand to intertwine her fingers with Castiel’s.

Yuriko called them and beckoned to them, announcing her friend was ready to begin the ceremony.

It was very peaceful. Castiel had read about them and watched some videos, but it was different to be there, kneeling on the floor as the host delicately manipulated the pots and the flames. He found himself fascinated by the undulations of her sleeves, graceful as the water, by her smile as she poured the tea and courteously offered it to them. It tasted strangely. Not bad, just… different. The best way Castiel could describe is that it tasted the way grass smelled after the rain, something vegetal and primitive and odd. He thanked the host and she seemed very pleased with herself before she passed the cup to Meg.

Afterwards, the host set the table and brought sweets for them to share while she launched on an explanation about tea, the ceremony and its history, making pauses so Castiel could translate for Meg. She listened to it with eyes wide open and nods of interest. Castiel had the impression she was as humbled and thankful as him that these people they had known for such a short time felt compelled to share their culture with them.

Or perhaps he was projecting that, because that was what he wanted to think. He wanted to believe she was as passionate as he was about this, about travelling and learning about new places, about their lives and their stories and their language.

Because then the strange way his heart thrummed when he looked at her would make sense. The way he wanted to touch her hair and hold her hand could be explained. She was still infuriating and confusing, but there was a vulnerability about her that he hadn’t noticed before, her mind was sharper and her outlook brighter than he could have guessed. And he couldn’t help to wonder why he’d never seen this Meg before now.

After they finished the tea, Yuriko and Keiji presented them with gifts: a small ceramic teapot and accompanying cups, all decorated with beautiful cherry blossoms.

“Oh, no, these are too cute,” Meg said when they put them in front of them. “We can’t accept them.”

The Odas insisted once more, perhaps believing that Meg rejecting the gift was part of the etiquette.

“Oh, sh… shoot. How do you say thank you?” she asked, turning to Castiel.

“ _Arigato_.”

“ _Arigato_ ,” Meg repeated, a little slower and stretching the last “o” too much. But Yuriko, Keiji and the host clapped to show how much they appreciated her effort.

It was a beautiful afternoon, with a beautiful sunset to accompany them as they went back to the hotel. Castiel was almost sad when they left behind the house and said goodbye to their new friends in the lobby. Because once they returned to their room, the illusion that he’d had in the garden, holding Meg’s hand, would be shattered.

For now, she was enthralled looking at the little cups and the teapot.

“I have to wrap these up in three layers of clothes,” she determined. “Or they’re gonna get home all broken and I’m gonna scream.”

He chuckled and took out the magnetic card of their door. They stepped inside and for a moment, they looked around a little disconcerted, as if they weren’t sure what to do now.

“Uh… do you want… dinner?” Castiel suggested.

“I had enough with the tea and the sweets,” Meg replied. “I have to pack.”

“Right,” Castiel muttered. He had done it earlier, while he waited for Meg to be ready, and it had been faster since he had less clothes. He still had to put away some things, but he figured the two of them moving about the room at the same time wouldn’t be ideal. “I’m going to call my brother,” he decided, grabbing his laptop. “Let him know everything that happened.”

“You do that.”

Castiel left the room with awkward sensation that he should’ve said something else. What, exactly, he didn’t know, but just… something. About how thankful he was he got to share these past few days with Meg, about he had discovered so many things about her he couldn’t imagine…

He put aside those thoughts as the screen came to life. It was early morning in New York, but he knew that Michael was already awake, probably going ahead with his morning routine. So he wasn’t surprised to see his brother’s face appeared with his hair perfectly squashed in a way Castiel never could quite get, an iron shirt and a mug of coffee in his hand.

“Castiel!” he said, smiling wide. “I was waiting for your call last night.”

He managed to make it sound like a reproach, even though he said it politely and with a kind look in his grey eyes.

“Yes, sorry about that,” Castiel replied. “I have good news, though.”

He gave his report in concise, precise words, omitting how stunning he had found the country’s uses, how wonderful it had been to meet people there and of course, what a pleasant surprise it had been to get to know Meg a little better. Michael was a businessman, he didn’t care for those things. He cared about efficiency and results and that was exactly what Meg and Castiel had managed on that trip.

Michael was very satisfied.

“Excellent,” he said, nodding to himself. “I’ll call Balthazar and tell him to start reading the contract drafts. Well done, Castiel. We’ll have a celebration when you come back.”

“Thank you, brother.” Castiel said. He was about to end the call when Michael asked something else:

“How is Meg?”

Castiel froze for a moment, confused.

“Why?”

“What did you think? How did she perform?” Michael asked. “I’m thinking about giving her some extra responsibilities when you get home. Do you think she will be able to handle them?”

“Oh,” Castiel muttered. Just a boss assessing and employees performance then. What the hell was wrong with him that he even thought otherwise? “Yes, I think she can. She’s a very smart and strong woman.”

“Well, damn, and here I thought you hated her.” Michael chuckled. “Glad to hear that you could put your differences aside and work together. I will see you soon, little brother.”

Michael ended the call, because of course he wanted to have the last word. Castiel closed his laptop, paid the waitress for the water he had taken and made his way back to the elevator.

If he was going to go through with his plan to ask Meg out on a date, he was going to have to wait a couple of days. If he did it while they were on the plane and she said no, that she wasn’t interested or that she hadn’t felt at all the things Castiel had thought he saw in her face, well… those would be some really awkward twelve hours. He also wanted to let sometime pass so he could truly think it through. Maybe it was the high of everything that had happened the last few days. Maybe it was just the effect that being in “another planet”, as Meg had put it, had on his perspective. Maybe when he got home, this tenderness that overwhelmed him when he was with her now would disappear and he would return to thinking she was arrogant and mean and…

He opened the door and all the excuses he was giving himself disappeared. Meg stood in the middle of the room; his gift bag at her feet, with its contents spilled on the floor. The amber pendant hanged from her hand and she stared at it with a slight frown, as if she was trying to figure out why it was there at all. She slowly turned her head towards Castiel when she heard him coming in.

“Did you… did you buy this?”

The answer seemed rather obvious, since she had it there, but Castiel understood that wasn’t what she was asking. She was asking if he had bought it for Anna, if he had bought for anyone other than her. If he had seen the way she looked at it and how she resisted the urge to get it for herself. She was asking if he had noticed and if he had cared enough.

Castiel closed the door behind him.

“I was… wondering when it would be a good time to give it to you.”

“Why?”

“I thought you would like it,” Castiel said. His face was burning and it was hard to keep looking at her, so he fixed his eyes on his shoes instead. “I figured…”

He stopped talking because suddenly Meg’s shoes were in front of his. He looked right at the moment her arm went around his neck and her hand found a place right in the back of his head. He didn’t have time to close his eyes as his lips met her, but the electrifying sensation of her mouth was still the same, more intense even, than when they kissed atop the Tokyo Tower.

Because there was no one here but them. No one they had to fool, no reason to pretend this kiss was just a ploy. Meg wanted to kiss him because she wanted to and when she broke away and stared up at him with those enormous brown eyes, Castiel discovered he wanted it to.

He tried to go slow, but his hands were trembling when he put them on her hips and spun her around. He heard a hollow thump as her back crashed against the door, but Meg didn’t seem to mind as she opened her mouth for him. Their tongues touched as he pressed his body against hers and Meg moaned softly when he tangled his fingers in her hair. She giggled when they broke apart to gasp for air.

“It’s always the quiet ones,” she said. Castiel had the feeling it was a joke he didn’t get.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled. “Was that too much…?”

Meg grabbed unto his shirt.

“It was too little,” she groaned before she clashed her mouth to his again.

She wasn’t delicate, so Castiel didn’t bother to be either. He pulled from the helm of her shirt and she stretched her arms above her head so he could remove it. Castiel ran his hands down her sides and her back as she struggled with his shirt before she finally lost her patience and ripped it open so harshly it was a miracle all the buttons stayed in place. She pushed him back and Castiel stumbled and fell right on the bed. She strode towards and stood between his legs, her hands running through his hair as Castiel left a kiss on her flat stomach. He went to undo the buttons of her jeans.

“Wait,” she said, stepping back all of the sudden. “Hold on.”

Castiel was left hanging on to air as she walked towards her bag and started rummaging through it. The questions that her mouth and her touch had kept at bay suddenly started flooding his mind. Was she regretting it? Did she want them to stop? Maybe she thought it would be too awkward and she wanted to forget all about this weekend and just…

Meg let out a small exclamation of triumph. She pushed her jeans down and stepped out of them before switching the lights off and making her way back to the bed in just her black underwear. It took a second for Castiel’s mind to register what she had in her hand, because he was too busy being mesmerized by how beautiful she looked in the lights of the city pouring in through their open window.

“Now the fun can begin,” she said as she passed a hand over his knees and sat down on his lap. She left a trail of kisses down his cheeks and his chin before she moved back to look at him. “What?”

“Did you just… happen to have a condom laying around in your bag?”

“You gotta be prepared for whatever life throws at you,” she laughed. When Castiel continued not to laugh as well, her smile faltered a little. “What? Don’t tell me you’re one of those guys who are all moralizing about…”

“It’s not that,” he interrupted her. “It’s just… do you… after tonight, are we…?”

She leaned over to shut him up with a kiss.

“I think,” she started, “that overthinking things isn’t worth it.” She made a pause and pensively ran her fingers through his hair. “I think there'll be times for regrets later and all that matters, really, is right now. What do you want right now, Cas?”

He didn’t have to think too hard about that question. He left a kiss over her exposed shoulder and put a hand on her cheek so he could look into her eyes.

“You.”

Meg unhooked her bra and tossed it to the side.

“Then have me.”

 

* * *

 

He made for a very comfortable pillow.

Meg usually wasn’t all that into cuddling and being clingy, but she was very comfortable with her head tucked under his chin, his arm around her shoulders. He snored softly, his chest raising and falling with the rhythm of his calm breathing. Meg snuggled closer to him and tried to ignore the fact the room is growing clearer with daylight. They’d forgotten to close the window pane the previous night. Well, she hoped whatever pervert was looking at them from the building across the street had a good show to entertain himself.

She certainly had been entertained. Castiel had surprised her: she imagined he was going to be gentle, that she was going to have to encourage him and guide him. Instead, he had taken the initiative almost immediately, holding her so tight she wouldn’t be surprised to find finger-shaped bruises on her hips and a hickie on the inside of her thighs where he had bitten her before he planted his face in her pussy and eaten her out until she came two times before he even properly fucked her. He had barely left her a second to breathe and afterwards, he had asked her if she had enjoyed it.

It was rare that a guy was so generous and so caring. It was rare that Meg felt this satisfied and so happy a morning after. She had one night stands now and then to take the edge off because she was always too busy to have an actual relationship, and usually when she woke up it was with a mild headache and the impression the sex had been mediocre at best. Usually she was already pushing the guy away, picking her clothes from the floor and getting ready to do the walk of shame back to her apartment.

But she didn’t feel compelled to do that now. Well, of course, the only place she could have walked to was the airport, but she didn’t even feel awkward or like she wanted to move to pick up the last of her clothes. She was well-fucked and happy and drifting back to sleep already. Castiel’s skin was so warm and soft and…

The ringing of the phone broke the morning calm. Castiel shifted awake, groaning as he rubbed his eyes and Meg cursed internally as he stretched his hand and picked up the phone.

“Yes?” he muttered and then, as if he had just remembered where he was: “ _Hi. Arigato_.” He hanged up the phone and rubbed his eyes one more time. “Our plane leaves in two hours.”

“Okay,” Meg muttered.

There was nothing else for them to say. They packed up whatever things they still had spread across the room and called a bellboy to help them get them all down. The elevator ride was awkwardly silent, but it was nothing compared to the oppressive, slow ride in the taxi to the airport. Meg felt barely awake as she looked outside the window, at the buildings and street becoming nothing more than concrete blurs. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Castiel opening his mouth and closing it again, as if he wanted to start a conversation but words failed him. Meg couldn’t say she blame him. She also wasn’t sure what to say.

It had been only three days, but the intensity of them made her feel like it had been three weeks. Her hand rested over the empty space on the taxi’s backseat. She still felt the weight of her mother’s wedding ring on her finger. She knew he had noticed she was wearing the amber pendant.

Their flight was delayed, because of course it was. Castiel left her with the bags for a moment and came back with two hot cups of coffee and a muffin.

“I know it’s not much of a breakfast…”

“It’s not, you’re right,” she told him, with a shrug. “You’ll have to make it up to me by making me breakfast in bed next time.”

She immediately bit her tongue. Goddammit.

Castiel toyed with his plastic cup for a moment, watching the vapor rise and dissolve in the air.

“Is… is there going to be a next time?” he asked. “For us?”

Meg took a sip of the coffee to give herself time to think.

“I have something to ask you first,” she concluded. “Do you regret it?”

She already knew the answer to that, but she wanted to hear what he thought. Castiel’s lips twitched, the softest smile appearing on his face.

“No. Not at all.”

Meg smirked at him. She didn’t know why, but that answer made her stomach tingle. She didn’t want to say there were butterflies in her stomach, because that was stupid and cliché, but it was definitely something around that neighborhood.

“So, the way I see it we have two options. We leave it as just something nice that happened, just a good memory, or… we don’t.”

Castiel fumbled with something in his hand and Meg realized with surprise that he was spinning the ring in his finger. After a few seconds, he looked directly at her. His blue eyes were inescapable.

“I don’t want it to be just a memory,” he concluded.

Meg put a hand on his cheek and pulled him closer, as if what she was going to tell him next was a secret only he was allowed to know:

“Me neither.”


End file.
